A pulmonary physician said he believes health complications from Elijah McClain’s struggle with Aurora police officers contributed to his death, but said in testimony Tuesday he could not assign blame.

Defense attorneys for the two officers currently on trial sought to lay responsibility at the feet of the paramedics at the scene, repeatedly pointing out they did not examine McClain or monitor him after injecting him with ketamine.

David Beuther, a pulmonary and critical care doctor, acknowledged the paramedics’ actions. But he insisted, when pressed, that laying any fault for McClain’s death was not his role.

“You can’t state with a reasonable degree of certainty what specific law enforcement action caused Mr. McClain to have metabolic acidosis?” asked Reid Elkus, one of Officer Randy Roedema’s defense attorneys. 

“Correct,” Beuther replied.

Elijah McClain already at risk of death before ketamine injection, physician says

Roedema and former officer Jason Rosenblatt face trial in Adams County on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault in connection with McClain’s death.

They are accused of stopping McClain and violently subduing him on the night of Aug. 24, 2019, along with Officer Nathan Woodyard, despite not suspecting him of any crime. Someone called 911 to report a suspicious person after seeing McClain wearing a mask and waving his arms as he walked down Billings Street.

A paramedic called to the scene injected him with ketamine. McClain stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest, and died in the hospital several days later.

Sentence enhancers dismissed against two officers in Elijah McClain case

McClain, a Black man, was 23 at the time. He had been walking home after buying iced tea from a convenience store.

Beuther formed his opinions based on examining McClain’s medical records, but didn’t treat him. He testified most of Friday and most of Tuesday morning.

He said it’s “more likely than not” McClain would be alive if not for the 500-milligram injection of ketamine, but said inhaling his own vomit, low oxygen and elevated acid from carbon dioxide in his blood McClain suffered from during the struggle with officers also contributed to his death.

McClain’s position on the ground made it difficult for him to cough and clear his lungs of the vomit he aspirated, Beuther said, and his labors to breathe brought the level of carbon dioxide in his blood higher, which in turn made him need to breathe even harder to bring it back to normal.

When Special Assistant Attorney General Duane Lyons questioned Beuther, he returned to the doctor’s assessment that McClain didn’t suffer from an “impending respiratory compromise,” meaning his position did not physically block his nose or mouth.

“When you used the term ‘compromise,’ … did you mean to suggest Mr. McClain was breathing normally?”

“No,” Beuther said.

“Did you mean to suggest he was not having any trouble breathing?”

“No.”

The jury also heard from Aurora 911 dispatchers. Deborah Furler, the dispatcher who took the call about McClain behaving suspiciously, said the system automatically logged the call as a “Priority 2,” which indicates an ongoing situation but doesn’t involve immediate danger.

“Did you have anything that led you to believe he was a danger to other people?” asked Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber, who sought to emphasize the 911 caller did not report any suspected crime.

“No,” Furler replied.

Opening statements given in trial over Elijah McClain's death

However, Roedema’s defense attorney Donald Sisson pointed out on cross-examination the information that McClain did not have a weapon was purely information relayed from the caller’s observation, not Furler’s firsthand knowledge.

“But you actually didn’t know whether he had no weapons?” he said.

“Yes, it’s purely what my caller tells me,” Furler replied.

Woodyard, the third police officer, has a trial set for October. Two Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, are scheduled to face trial in November.