Jury selection in the trial of a third Aurora police officer charged in connection with Elijah McClain’s death is scheduled to begin this week. Ahead of the trial’s start, the officer’s defense attorneys argue the jury should not be able to hear some statements shown on body-worn camera footage made by other police officers at the scene.

Aurora Officer Nathan Woodyard faces a count of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Adams County. The 23-year-old died a few days after the encounter with police late at night on Aug. 24, 2019 as he walked home from a convenience store, listening to music, after buying iced tea.

Woodyard confronted McClain first, who said he was going home. Woodyard grabbed him within a few seconds, telling McClain he had the right to stop him because he was “being suspicious,” body-worn camera footage shows.

Woodyard is also accused of putting McClain in a neck hold, known as a carotid or “sleeper” hold, meant to temporarily restrict the flow of oxygen to a person’s brain. McClain briefly lost consciousness, according to court documents. It’s not clear from body-worn camera footage of the encounter exactly when Woodyard applied the carotid hold because his camera fell off shortly after the encounter began.

About 18 minutes into the struggle, a paramedic who responded to the scene injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. His heart and breathing stopped that night, and he died in a hospital a few days later.

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Andrew Ho, one of Woodyard’s attorneys, said the defense does not want the jury to be allowed to hear statements from other officers during some of the encounter on body-worn camera footage. He argued that because Woodyard stepped away from the scene about three minutes after the initial contact with McClain and didn’t return until for about 15 minutes, the jury hearing what was said by McClain and the other officers at the scene after Woodyard had stepped away would prejudice them.

Ho said although Woodyard was still in the vicinity of the struggle after he stepped away, he couldn’t hear the other officers.

“What is the relevance of the co-defendants’ attitudes towards Mr. McClain, when Mr. Woodyard is not even present? That’s the prejudicial effect of these statements,” Ho said.

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Prosecutor Ann Joyce said she believes Woodyard was away from the scene for less than 15 minutes, and returned right before the injection of ketamine. She believes his actions should be treated as a continuous part of the encounter.

“While Mr. Woodyard turns around, and essentially abandons the person that he just did the carotid hold on, it is our position that that’s part of his reckless actions,” Joyce said.

District Court Judge Mark Warner said Monday he needed more time to review the matter and would plan to rule in a few days.

A few doctors who testified in the case of two other officers currently on trial have said the carotid hold used on McClain led him to vomit, inhaled some of it into his lungs and struggled to breathe, creating a “vicious cycle,” according to one expert.

Woodyard, Officer Randy Roedema and former Officer Jason Rosenblatt responded to a report to 911 of a suspicious person because McClain wore a black mask and was waving his arms (he was often cold, prosecutors have said). However, McClain was not suspected of a crime.

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The jury in Roedema and Rosenblatt’s trial is expected to begin deliberations this week after closing arguments Tuesday.

Jury selection for Woodyard’s trial is scheduled to start Friday. Warner said the pool of potential jurors will number 130. Potential members will fill out questionnaires Friday, and attorneys for each side will begin questioning them next week. The attorneys said in Monday’s hearing they expect the trial to last about three weeks.