Prosecutors set to lay out case against officers in death of unarmed Black man in Denver suburb

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors are expected to present opening statements after jury selection wraps up Wednesday in the trial of two police officers charged in the 2019 death of an unarmed Black man who was forcibly detained while walking on a Denver suburb.

In the first of several trials stemming from the death of Elijah McClain, lawyers for the two sides are expected to paint contrasting pictures of the deadly struggle between the officers and the 23-year-old man, who was stopped by police as he walked home from a convenience store.

One question jurors could be asked to decide is whether it was lawful for officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt to detain and use force against McClain, who a 911 caller had reported as being suspicious. If prosecutors can convince jurors the stop was unjustified, that would undermine any argument that McClain’s injuries were a result of the officers just doing their jobs.

Roedema and Rosenblatt are both charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter and assault in a trial expected to last about a month. They have pleaded not guilty but have never spoken publicly about the allegations against them. A third officer and two paramedics facing charges in McClain's death are scheduled for trial later this year.

Charges were not brought for two years after McClain's death, by which time the case along with others had sparked outrage and a national reckoning over racial injustice in American policing.

Police stopped McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, while he was walking down a street listening to music in the city of Aurora after a 911 caller reported a man who seemed “sketchy.” McClain, a massage therapist who was often cold, was wearing a ski mask and a jacket despite the warm...