DENVER — The former Aurora police officer found guilty for his role in the death of Elijah McClain is asking the court to reconsider his 14-month jail sentence with work release.
In October 2023, a jury found Randy Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. He was sentenced to 14 months of jail on a work release program and four years of probation.
Roedema was the only officer convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. Former Aurora Police Officer Jason Rosenblatt, who was tried alongside Roedema, was acquitted.
Elijah McClain was stopped while walking home from a convenience store on August 24, 2019, after a 911 caller reported seeing a “sketchy” man in the neighborhood. He was put in a neck hold and pinned down by police before being injected by paramedics with a powerful sedative. The 23-year-old went into cardiac arrest and died a few days later.
Elijah McClain | 360 In-Depth Coverage
Denver7's partners at The Denver Post obtained a motion filed by Roedema's defense team asking the court to convert the remainder of his 14-month sentence from work release to in-home detention. The document, filed on May 29, states that Roedema began his sentence on March 22. Since then, he has "continued to serve his sentence without violation or incident."
Roedema's defense team states in the motion that converting his sentence to house arrest would result in it lasting longer than the work release program. Under the program, Roedema gets one day of credit for every day served, meaning he would likely serve seven months of work release.
The court documents list a handful of reasons why Roedema's sentence should be reconsidered. Those include PTSD from his time serving with the Marines in Iraq, an increase in anxiety attacks, a lack of sleep due to "extreme paranoia and depression," loss of approximately 30 pounds "due to stress which has resulted in a loss of appetite," an increased fear of being attacked because of his law enforcement background, and that he has not been able to attend church because of "limited religious services offered."
“It's another stab, or it's another lash on the back of the Black community, that we are now watching someone say that they deserve comfort, they deserve an opportunity to live out accountability in a very specific way because they find themselves in a place of discomfort," said MiDian Holmes, who sat through the majority of all three trials alongside Elijah McClain's mother, Sheneen. “Now we're back into this watch and wait to see what's going to happen. The Black community doesn't deserve that, and Sheneen McClain and her family do not deserve that.”
Holmes, who is the CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, was not surprised by the motion filed on behalf of Roedema.
"It absolutely is affirmation that we still have systems of oppression and racism in our country," Holmes said. “He is now asking for someone to see his humanity and to see his needs and to see him as someone that deserves an opportunity to live out this part of his life, this season of life. That's very hypocritical.”
Holmes continued to criticize the reasons stated by defense attorneys as to why Roedema's sentence should be reconsidered.
“It has nothing to do with your environment, why you're not sleeping. It has nothing to do with that jailhouse, why you're not eating. That is in your soul. You have sealed your fate," said Holmes. “There isn't any reprieve or relief coming for you."
Tyrone Glover is a civil rights attorney in Denver who has been practicing law for 15 years. He said motions asking a judge to reconsider a sentence are fairly typical in cases with harsh punishments or mandatory minimum sentences.
“You don't see a lot of people trying to reconsider from work release. In my experience, it's folks who've been given very harsh prison sentences that are looking for consideration," said Glover.
After reading over the motion, Glover said the reasons provided in the court document do not constitute unique issues for someone who is incarcerated.
“Incarceration is awful. Our jails, our prisons, they are not good places to be. I mean, it is punitive. But at the end of the day, I think in many circumstances, it goes above and beyond just being punitive," Glover explained. “This has the potential to bring to light some of the circumstances that men and women and others experience all over our penal system, in our jails and our prisons. And hopefully, what this ultimately does is enable the public to come away from this, I think, just more educated about just the harshness and the realities of doing time.”
However, Glover said he also fears the precedent this motion could set.
"If this ends up being a situation where he is ultimately granted in-home detention, when I'm not really seeing anything in this motion that would warrant it for him more so than anyone else, now we set up this double standard, and we sort of perpetuate it going forward. And I don't think that that's good for anyone," Glover said. “If you look at what happens every day in our courts, and how many of these motions are filed regularly by folks looking for some sort of sentencing relief, no, this is not the type of motion I would anticipate would be granted. But again, we're in kind of a different state of play.”
According to court records, a status review is set for June 20 in Adams County.
The Denver Post reports that the Colorado Attorney General's Office objected to the defense's motion in a filing on Monday. The AG's office alleges that the district court does not have the power to decide on Roedema's sentence reconsideration since he has appealed his conviction, meaning the case is now with the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Roedema's attorney, Don Sisson, did not respond to Denver7's request for comment.
