US judge slashes paramedic's sentence in Black man’s death, draws criticism

A judge in the US state of Colorado sharply reduced a paramedic’s five-year prison sentence over the 2019 death of a Black man to four years of probation, but the ruling was immediately criticised, according to local media.

Peter Cichuniec, 51, was found guilty earlier th is year of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault after administering a lethal dose of ketamine to Elijah McClain, 23, following a police encounter, NBC News reported on Saturday.

Judge Mark Warner, who issued the Friday ruling, said: "The court finds really there are unusual and extenuating circumstances and they are truly exceptional in this particular case."

But the decision drew sharp criticism from the state's attorney general, Philip Weiser, who argued it undermines the jury’s verdict, said NBC.

"No other codefendant admitted to knowingly overdosing the victim for an improper purpose, and no other codefendant was convicted of second-degree assault as a crime of violence," Weiser said in a court filing opposing the modification.

He added: "We are disappointed the court reduced his sentence today, but we respect the court’s decision."

McClain’s death occurred after police responded to a report of a suspicious person wearing a ski mask, NBC said.

Officers tackled McClain, and paramedics, including Cichuniec, injected him with ketamine. He suffered cardiac arrest shortly after the injection and died six days later.

Cichun iec’s codefendant, paramedic Jeremy Cooper, was also convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years of probation.

McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, who had previously called for Cichuniec to be held fully accountable, also opposed the sentence reduction.

"I’m not OK. I never will be," she said during Cichuniec’s initial sentencing in March, adding that the paramedics "had the opportunity to save him."