The judge could have sentenced Randy Roedema to up to three years in prison for his felony conviction, but he said Roedema likely would be paroled after 12 months if he was sent to state prison.
DENVER (AP) — A judge sentenced an ex-Colorado police officer to 14 months in jail for his role in the death of Elijah McClain after hearing the young Black man’s mother on Friday call the officer a “bully with a badge” who will always have blood on his hands.
The officer, Randy Roedema, was the most senior law enforcement member to initially respond to the scene and the only one found guilty. A jury convicted him in October of criminally negligent homicide, which is a felony, and third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor.
McClain was stopped by police after a 911 caller reported that he looked suspicious. Another officer put his hands on McClain within seconds, beginning a struggle and restraint that lasted about 20 minutes before paramedics injected him with the ketamine.
Experts say the sedative ultimately killed McClain, who was already weakened from struggling to breathe while being pinned down after inhaling vomit into his lungs.
Roedema helped hold McClain down while paramedics administered the ketamine. He was often visible in the body camera footage shown over and over to jurors, and he could be heard directing others how to restrain him.
“I don’t think anybody who’s been involved in this case can unsee what was on the videos or what was depicted on those videos,” Warner said before sentencing Roedema.
Warner, who said he was shocked by what appeared to be indifference to McClain’s suffering after he was handcuffed, could have sentenced Roedema to up to three years in prison for his felony conviction but chose instead to give him four years of parole and for the felony and a jail sentence for the misdemeanor.
Warner said that would lead to Roedema being behind bars longer since he would likely be paroled after about a year if he was sent to state prison. He also could have been eligible to be sent to a halfway house before that too, under prison rules.
The sentencing includes the option of work release. He must report to jail by March 22.
Sheneen McClain called the sentence afterward “a slap on the wrist.” Roedema’s attorney has said he will appeal the conviction.
The same jury that convicted Roedema acquitted former officer Jason Rosenblatt, whose lawyers stressed that he wasn’t close to McClain when the ketamine was injected.
A different jury acquitted officer Nathan Woodyard a few weeks later, after he testified that he put McClain in a neck hold, briefly rendering him unconscious. Woodyard testified that he feared for his life after Roedema said McClain had grabbed for one of their guns. Prosecutors say the gun grab never happened.
Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were convicted last month. Cichuniec, the senior officer, was found guilty of the most serious charge faced by any of the first responders: felony second-degree assault. It carries a prison sentence of between five and 16 years in prison.
Though tragic, Elijah McClain’s death has brought about positive changes in Colorado, including laws barring police from directing ketamine to be used, requiring first responders to intervene if they see someone put in danger by other first responders, and requiring police to wear body cameras, Slothouber said.
