Judge rules jury may see body cam footage in trial of third officer in Elijah McClain’s death
The jury in the trial of a third Aurora police officer charged in the death of Elijah McClain will be allowed to watch the entire body-worn camera video footage of the incident, a judge ruled Friday.
Woodyard’s attorneys wanted a 15-minute clip taken out of the footage because he stepped away from the scene about three minutes after the initial contact with McClain and didn’t return for about 15 minutes.
17th Judicial District Judge Mark Warner ruled for the jury to be allowed to watch the video footage but gave the caveat that he would give a contemporaneous instruction for the panel to separate what was happening while officers were wrestling with McClain from anything involving Woodyard.
In an earlier hearing, Andrew Ho, one of Woodward’s attorneys, said allowing members of the jury to hear what was said by McClain and the other officers at the scene after Woodyard had stepped away would prejudice them.
Ho said that Woodyard was far enough away from the scene that he couldn’t hear the officers.
Prosecutor Ann Joyce disagreed, saying she believed Woodyard was away from the scene for less than 15 minutes and returned right before the injection of ketamine. She said 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 at an earlier hearing.
Woodyard faces reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Adams County.
McClain, 23, 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.
A few doctors who testified in the case of two other officers 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 had 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.
Rosenblatt was acquitted Thursday in the case. He had faced charges in Adams County of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault.
Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. They were the lesser included charges to the manslaughter and second-degree assault counts he faced.
Jury selection in Woodyard’s trial begins Monday with opening statements expected on Tuesday.
Denver Gazette reporter Julia Cardi contributed to this article.
