THORNTON, Colo. — Colorado lawmakers are pushing to prohibit the use of the term "excited delirium" from training for law enforcement, emergency medical providers and other first responders.
HB24-1103 would also ban peace officers from describing someone as having excited delirium in an incident report. Excited delirium would also not be accepted as a cause of death on death certificates, if HB24-1103 became law.
According to the National Institutes of Health, excited delirium can be defined by "agitation, aggression, acute distress and sudden death, often in the pre-hospital care setting."
“A lot of us heard about and understood more about excited delirium when we saw the murder of Elijah McClain," state Rep. Leslie Herod, D - Denver County, the prime sponsor of the legislation, said. “What we know is excited delirium has been utilized as an excuse to use excessive force against predominantly Black and brown people without any repercussions.”
The legislation has passed out of the House of Representatives and heads to the Senate next. It is scheduled to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday afternoon.
“Excited delirium is a term, and at one point, a medical diagnosis that was used to say that certain people have extraordinary human strength, and that they couldn't feel pain," Herod said. “This has been utilized as an excuse to use excessive excessive force against them [Black or brown people].”
Before the bill was amended in the House of Representatives, state Rep. Ryan Armagost- R, Larimer and Weld Counties, sent Denver7 a statement regarding the legislation. Since then, it has been changed to allow the term to be used during training when teaching the history behind it to emergency medical service providers.
“Excited Delirium” was a term for subjects in severe emotional distress causing them to fight intensely upon apprehension during the early part of my law enforcement career. It became outdated by 2012 in my career as we learned more about Crisis Intervention Training. This bill as introduced said that you can’t use the term while training people not to use the term anymore. The bill sponsors also implied that law enforcement use “excited delirium” as “an excuse to use excessive force resulting in death” of black and brown men. I was personally offended as a law enforcement officer that used the term to elevate the need of medical attention upon apprehension of a subject clearly in crisis. I am not opposed that the term is outdated and no longer used in reporting writing, but I am opposed to the premise and need for presenting the bill as they did.
In 2023, the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) issued a statement saying they do not endorse the term excited delirium.
Avina and Rebecca De Luna did not know what excited delirium was until March 2017. A caller reported to Thornton Police "drug activity" near the intersection of 91st and Huron, according to the decision letter about the incident from former District Attorney Dave Young. The call led to an encounter with Alejandro Gutierrez, Avina's father.
The police interviewed for the decision letter said when they approached Gutierrez, he ran from them. A chase ensued, and when officers caught Gutierrez, there was a "scuffle" before he was arrested. At different points, officers hit, kicked and tased Gutierrez. Once on the ground and handcuffed, officers noticed Gutierrez was struggling to breathe. Medical aid was rendered, according to the letter, but Gutierrez died a short time later.
Both Thornton police and Federal Heights police responded. The officers involved did not face any criminal charges.
Gutierrez's autopsy lists the cause of death as methamphetamine-induced excited delirium. The district attorney 's decision letter summarized the autopsy, noting there were "multiple non-fatal injuries" during the external examination. There was also an absence of fatal internal injuries. The autopsy found the primary contributing factors to Gutierrez's death were "intense physical exertion and coronary artery disease."
Avina described her father as someone who always wanted to make others laugh. She said their relationship was tough while Guiterrez was incarcerated, but in 2017, they were working on becoming closer. She said he was trying to better himself at the time and had dreams of helping youth who were heading down similar paths.
“I was confused, because I didn't know what it [excited delirium] was. And as I've learned what it is, I can say my father didn't die from that. He died from the beating that he endured," Avina said. “It [excited delirium] shouldn't be on my father's autopsy or anybody else's autopsy report.”
The De Lunas believe Gutierrez did not receive the coverage he deserved at the time of his death.
“This is a story about a man who didn't get much televised coverage, and what excited delirium has done for myself and for my family," Rebecca said. “Seven years later, it's still surreal. You can't console your child. You can't say 'It's okay. It's going to be okay.' Because it's not okay. It's never going to be okay.”
The De Lunas would like excited delirium removed from Gutierrez's autopsy report. Denver7 received a response from the coroner for Adams and Broomfield Counties about the case.
We are not reviewing past cases of excited delirium as the cause was endorsed by the National Association of Medical Examiners at that time. This is the same approach to other past cases in which the recommendations for their cause/manner of death classification has changed or evolved since (e.g. sudden infant death syndrome, dropsy, apoplexy, consumption etc.).
The excited delirium phenomenon is a component associated with drug toxicity. In a case such as this, removing excited delirium does not change that this individual had methamphetamine on board. Methamphetamine is a dangerous substance and it is not deemed safe for use in any quantity. Therefore when methamphetamine is present, in any quantity, in the absence of evidence of another cause of death (such as in this case), the cause of death is methamphetamine toxicity. With or without reference to excited delirium. Simply put the cause of death in this case can also be stated as "toxic effects of methamphetamine." This cause of death would be aligned with the National Association of Medical Examiners’ current endorsement: “That the underlying cause, natural or unnatural (to include trauma), for the delirious state be determined (if possible) and used for death certification.” The manner of death would remain undetermined because we cannot say what role, if any, police restraint had in the death. We do know however, that there were no internal injuries sufficient to cause death.
Still, the De Luna's believe HB24-1103 is progress.
The family works to ensure Gutierrez's memory is cherished. Avina recently had her first child, and named it after her father.
“It was a way to honor my father since he's not here to meet his first grandchild," Avina said. "I just want my son to grow up knowing he was named after an amazing man.”
