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BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) - A second Denver-area police officer was acquitted
Monday in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who was put in a neck hold and injected with ketamine after being stopped by police as he walked home
from a convenience store.

The jury found Aurora officer Nathan Woodyard not guilty of homicide and manslaughter following a weekslong trial in state district court. He faced years in prison if convicted.

McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, who was in the courtroom, wiped tears
from her eyes after the verdict was read.

Defense lawyer Megan Downing said, "We believe it was the right verdict,
not an easy one."

The case received little attention until protests over the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked renewed outrage over McClain’s death.
The 23-year-old Black man’s pleading words captured on police body camera video, "I’m an introvert and I’m different," struck a chord.

An earlier trial against two other officers resulted in split verdict,
with one convicted of homicide and third degree assault and the other
officer acquitted.

McClain died after being put in a neck hold by Woodyard, then pinned to
the ground by Woodyard and several other officers before he was injected
by paramedics with an overdose of ketamine.

Defense attorneys stressed Woodyard was not there during crucial minutes
when McClain’s condition was deteriorating. Body camera footage seen by
jurors showed Woodyard stepping away for part of the confrontation.

Two paramedics are awaiting trial later this month.

A local prosecutor in 2019 decided against criminal charges because the coroner’s office could not determine exactly how the massage therapist
died. But Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered state Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office to take another look at the case in 2020 and a grand jury indicted the officers and paramedics in 2021.

The killings of McClain, Floyd and others triggered a wave of legislation
that put limits on the use of neck holds in more than two dozen states. Colorado now tells paramedics not to give ketamine to people suspected of having a controversial condition known as excited delirium, which has
symptoms including increased strength and has been associated with racial
bias against Black men.

Unlike the first two officers who were prosecuted, Woodyard took the stand during his trial. He testified that he put McClain in the carotid control
hold because he feared for his life after he heard McClain say, "I intend
to take my power back" and another officer say, "He just grabbed your gun, dude."

McClain was stopped Aug. 24, 2019, while walking home from a convenience
store on a summer night, listening to music and wearing a mask that
covered most of his face. The police stop quickly became physical after McClain, seemingly caught off guard, asked to be left alone. He had not
been accused of committing any crime.

Woodyard and other officers told investigators they took McClain down
after hearing Officer Randy Roedema say, "He grabbed your gun dude."
Roedema later said Officer Jason Rosenblatt’s gun was the target.

Paramedics injected McClain with ketamine as Roedema and another officer
who was not charged held him on the ground. He went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and died three days later.

Roedema was convicted earlier this month of the least serious charges he
faced which could lead to a sentence of anywhere from probation to prison
time.

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/jury-acquits-2nd-officer-in-death-of-elijah- mcclain

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