Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Tuesday–Thursday (Oct 3rd, 4th and 5th):
CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities. Photo – eye contact.
Tuesday, Oct 3rd:
The day began with the judge ruling that all witnesses must testify in person, which means, witnesses in Minnesota and Tennessee will be forced to travel to Colorado to give their testimony. Judge Mark Warner also "partially" sustained a request from the defense who wants to ask a witness about McClain's drug use and hospitalization for "LSD intoxication" in 2016.
Dr. Stephen Cina, the "contracted" pathologists who performed the original "undetermined" autopsy on McClain, took the stand during the afternoon session. The account of the autopsy conclusion is details in Elijah's full story, linked below. In September 2022, after the grand jury indictment was handed down, Cina changed the original Adams County corner's 2019 autopsy. Though he amended the cause of death to "ketamine administration following forcible restraint", the (MOD) manner of death remained "undetermined", not "homicide". The doctor also claimed that he asked for body cam footage, witness statements and additional records in 2019 but, claims he "didn't get everything". Samples of McClain's brain, heart and lungs were tested, indicating that portions of the brain swollen which, Dr. Cina attributed to lack of oxygen. He also said the lungs were twice the original size because of inflammation associated with "aspirated vomit".
Emails obtained through an open records request revealed that Adams County coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan met with the Aurora officers that were investigating the killing of Elijah McClain, before the autopsy's "undetermined" MOD conclusion was reached. Cina also testified that two Aurora investigators were in attendance during the autopsy, while the actions of APD officers were under "review". These two events, in conjunction with the timing of the "undetermined" autopsy findings, are highly questionable. Did these occurrences have influence on Dr. Cina's conclusion? Is this another example of the perversion of justice, by those who facilitate that system?
The witness claimed he change the autopsy after reviewing body camera footage, saying he believes restraint played a role in the death. In his original autopsy, Dr. Cina said, he believed Elijah had recovered from the carotid hold based on his apology after vomiting. He testified that McClain choked on vomit while wearing a mask during the "struggle" with officers, and again after being injected with ketamine. Despite his testimony on the increased size of McClain's lungs, Cina said he's still not sure if the aspiration caused his death. He also testified that Elijah would likely have recovered, "if not for the ketamine". Ultimately, Dr. Cina's testimony seems to indicate, he still can't, or won't make an accurate conclusive decision.
Wednesday, Oct 4th:
The court was dismissed around 11 AM after only two witnesses took the stand. After some legal wrangling with the judge, Ron Ryan an Atty Gen. investigator took the stand. He spoke to the jury about the location of the incident after a map of Elijah's route was admitted into evidence, along with his jacket, shirt, pants, shoes, and earbuds. Ryan's testimony brought attention to a "red substance" found on several of the items. One of Elisha's coworkers at the massage therapy business gave very brief testimony before court was adjourned at approximately 10:51 AM. The prosecution revealed that its final witness of the day would not arrive in Denver until later Wednesday evening.
Thursday, Oct 5th:
The prosecution called forensic pathologist Roger A. Mitchell Jr., the chair of the Department of Pathology at Howard University College of medicine in DC. He was contracted by the office of the Atty Gen to review the case, and subsequently submitted an additional autopsy report for the grand jury's investigation. Mitchell's autopsy reported that, the carotid hold and aspiration of fluid and vomit were a "result" of "forcible restraint" by the officers. He concluded that the actions of the officers and the overdose of ketamine are what killed McClain.
The prosecution introduced autopsy photographs showing "abrasions and scrapes", and played body cam footage from the night of August 24, 2019. Dr. Mitchell said that the abrasions were caused by the carotid hold, and that Elijah's neck showed evidence of "blunt trauma", as well as broken blood vessels in his eyes. This seems to indicate that extreme force was applied to his neck by police. After being shown the body camera footage, the expert witness was asked to give his impressions of when Elijah began to show signs of respiratory distress during the interaction. He also addressed the paramedics diagnosis of "excited delirium".
Dr. Mitchell's testimony provided definitive evidence indicating the culpability of Roedema and Rosenblatt in the murder. The defense interrupted the testimony with numerous objections throughout. The witness said he does not believe in "excited delirium as a medical diagnosis". After viewing the footage, Mitchell also testified in that McClain's actions and condition did not support claims of such a diagnosis. He gave detailed statements about Elijah's actions and statements in the footage including, when he told police that he was was experiencing pain. The doctor said, "… If we believe this notion of excited delirium, one of the things with excited delirium is that you're impervious to pain and that response objectively tells us that he's not impervious to pain, that he's responding to painful stimuli is being placed upon him" [SIC]. With the damning evidence presented thus far, it's not looking good for the two officers being tried for the murder. I'd imagine, this is little consolation for Elijah's mom Sheenen, who was in the courtroom today. Testimony resumes on Friday.
[Correction: With many sources conflicting with one another throughout the course of this case, including discrepancies of Elisha's age, I'd like to clarify a couple of points about my articles. With limited pretrial coverage, some of the court dates for the three trials of the five accused first responders have been changed. I previously reported that the trial for the paramedics was to begin in August, as one source stated. With the multitude of changes, it's been hard to keep up sometimes. I also erroneously describe some of the officers as "former" when in fact, they are suspended without pay. My apologies for these inconsistencies.]
Click below for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
https://kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_IDR_Voice/110811804572042699
OutOfExile_IDR 2023
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence #SayMyName @disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic
2/2
the vibes of this song are just so good. 
