Prosecutors are set to present opening statements Wednesday in the trial of two police officers charged in the 2019 death of a Black man who was detained while walking in a Denver suburb.
The selection process began Friday to seat the jury for the trial.
Roedema and Rosenblatt are charged manslaughter, criminally negligent reckless homicide and assault charges in a trial expected to last about a month. They have pleaded not guilty but have never spoken publicly about the allegations against them. Moments later, police stopped him and after struggling with him, put the 23-year-old in a neck hold. Then paramedics gave him ketamine that officials eventually determined played a key role in his death days later. McClain, a massage therapist known for his gentle nature, was unarmed and hadn't committed any crime.
The grand jury indictment came nearly two years after a local prosecutor decided against prosecuting the officers largely because the coroner’s office could not determine exactly how McClain died. He called McClain’s death “tragic,” but said that finding made it hard to prove that the officers’ actions caused his death.
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