The paramedic who was convicted for giving Elijah McClain a fatal overdose has conviction overturned.
Aurora paramedic Peter Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison but a judge has ruled to release him after six months. Cichuniec will now serve four years of probation instead. In 2019, he was convicted for his role in the death of McClain for injecting him with a fatal dose of ketamine while in police custody.
The judge’s decision has since received outraged reactions on social media from supporters of McClain and both prosecutors. See some of the reactions below.
According to reports, Judge Mark Warner said that there were “truly exceptional circumstances in vacating the sentence” during Friday’s hearing. Peter Cichuniec was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault by drugging. The judge also explained that this case had some unusual factors that “warranted reconsidering the mandatory minimum sentence.”
The prosecutors in this case argued that overturning the conviction would “undermine the jury’s verdict and Colorado’s mandatory sentencing laws.” The court filing stated, “A sentence modification in the case will undermine the jury’s verdict, the legislature’s mandatory sentencing scheme, and the deterrence of the abuse of anesthetic drugs for improper purposes.”
Justice of Elijah McClain!