Former Colorado police officer Randy Roedema, who was convicted of killing Elijah McClain, a young Black man, is awaiting sentencing on Friday. McClain's mother may also speak at the hearing. Roedema was the only one among the three officers charged in McClain's 2019 death to be found guilty. He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. McClain's death initially received little attention, but gained renewed interest following the murder of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests against racial injustice in policing. In a separate trial, two paramedics were recently convicted for injecting McClain with an overdose of the sedative ketamine after he was put in a neck hold by the police.

The sentencing for the paramedics will come later this year. They had been trained to use ketamine to treat "excited delirium," a condition that is disputed and considered unscientific and rooted in racism by some. McClain was stopped by police after a 911 caller reported him as suspicious. Within seconds, another officer put his hands on McClain, leading to a struggle and restraint that lasted about 20 minutes before the paramedics injected him with ketamine. Experts believe that the sedative ultimately caused McClain's death, as he was already weakened from struggling to breathe while being pinned down after inhaling vomit into his lungs.

Roedema, convicted of criminally negligent homicide, could face probation up to three years in prison. The assault conviction carries a punishment of probation up to two years in jail. Judge Mark Warner, a former prosecutor with nearly 20 years of experience as a judge, will have to weigh the severity of this homicide case compared to others he has seen in his career. George Brauchler, a former district attorney, believes that probation would not be a suitable sentence for Roedema, given that he was a uniformed police officer and a jury convicted him of taking a life. Brauchler, who prosecuted the Aurora theater shooting case, finds it difficult to understand how Roedema could go home on probation.

Even if Roedema is sentenced to probation, he could be required to spend up to 90 days in jail as part of the sentence. The sentences for the assault and homicide charges are likely to be served concurrently, rather than back-to-back for a longer sentence, as they involve the same actions. If Roedema is sent to prison, he would be eligible for parole in a year and likely sent to a halfway house before that, according to prison regulations.

During the trial, Roedema was often visible in the body camera footage shown to the jurors, giving directions to others on how to restrain McClain. The same jury that convicted Roedema acquitted former officer Jason Rosenblatt, who was not close to McClain when the ketamine was injected. Another jury acquitted officer Nathan Woodyard, who admitted to putting McClain in a neck hold. Prosecutors argued that McClain had not grabbed for their guns, as Roedema claimed.

The recent acquittals in Colorado and Washington state, where three police officers were cleared of all criminal charges in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man, do not indicate a waning push for police reform, according to Candace McCoy, a professor emerita at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. McCoy believes that individual prosecutions alone will not bring about police reform and that changing the culture and departments is necessary for real change.