People v. Cooper & Cichuniec (Elijah McClain paramedics)

Will the Colorado Supreme Court take up the AG's bid to restore the McClain paramedics' homicide convictions?

Court: Colorado Supreme Court (cert from Colo. App., 2026 COA 43)
Division: Trial Court

Where the case stands

On June 4, 2026 the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed both homicide convictions for instructional error and ordered new trials, while affirming Cichuniec's second-degree assault conviction. Attorney General Phil Weiser announced June 18, 2026 that his office will petition the Colorado Supreme Court to review the reversal.

Background

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics who injected 23-year-old Elijah McClain with an overdose of ketamine during a 2019 police stop; McClain died days later. Their December 2023 convictions were among the first-ever homicide convictions of paramedics for on-duty care and drew national attention to EMS sedation practices.

Charges

Cooper: criminally negligent homicide (convicted Dec. 22, 2023; sentenced to probation)
Cichuniec: criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault for unlawful administration of ketamine (initially 5 years prison, resentenced to 4 years probation after ~10 months served)

The arguments

Prosecution/State: The paramedics grossly deviated from their training — sedating McClain without assessment, at a dose for someone far larger, then failing to monitor him — and the jury was properly persuaded of criminal negligence; the AG says the office is committed to defending the convictions.

Defense: The trial court instructed the jury on a generic reasonable-person standard instead of the standard of a reasonable paramedic, misleading jurors on the applicable standard of care — the ground on which the Court of Appeals reversed.

The record

Body-camera and 911 audio. Aurora police body-worn camera footage of the stop and restraint, publicly released and played at trial.
Ketamine dosing evidence. Trial evidence that McClain, ~143 lbs, received a ketamine dose estimated for someone much heavier, with no meaningful pre-injection assessment.
Court of Appeals opinion. Published opinion 2026 COA 43 reversing the homicide counts for instructional error and affirming Cichuniec's assault count.

The line-setting read at the time this market opened

Cert grants are discretionary and most petitions fail, but this is a published opinion in the state's most-watched prosecution of EMS providers, with the AG personally committed; call it roughly a one-in-three chance of a grant.

Awaiting decision — The Colorado Supreme Court's discretionary decision whether to grant the Attorney General's petition for review of the reversal — a denial makes the reversal final and sends the homicide counts to retrial. The ruling is posted here, and on the board, the moment it's confirmed by two or more independent news organizations.

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Sources

Public record

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