Elijah McClain case: Trial for third Aurora officer — Nathan Woodyard — begins Tuesday with opening statements

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Stephanie Butzer joined the Denver7 team as a digital producer in June 2018 and is now the senior digital producer.

Denver7 is following the second of three trials in the case of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man who died a few days after he was violently arrested by Aurora police on Aug. 24, 2019.

He was declared brain dead days later and died Aug. 30, 2019. A pathologist found he was given a higher dose of ketamine than recommended for somebody of his size and, as a result, he overdosed. The City of Aurora settled a civil lawsuit with McClain’s family in November 2021 for $15 million. She said in the 18 minutes after police first contacted McClain, Woodyard's choice of using the carotid hold later caused McClain to have trouble breathing and to vomit. She said Woodyard did not follow his training as McClain begged for help.

The situation did indeed change, Joyce explained, after an alleged gun grab. However, she said there is no clear evidence of this, as the BWC video does not show it. This statement set up a series of events, including both Rosenblatt and Woodyard attempting the carotid hold on McClain. It wasn't clear how well Rosenblatt was able to perform this, since it was considered not successful. Woodyard then took over and was successful.

When the paramedics got to the scene, the officers did not relay any information about McClain's health, she said. On the defense side, attorney Megan Magdalena Downing, who represents Woodyard, stated simply that Woodyard did not kill McClain, but he is woven into the tragedy of the case. Woodyard was the primary officer to respond that evening — Roedema and Rosenblatt were cover officers — but that doesn't mean every action was Woodyard's responsibility.

 

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