A Colorado police officer acquitted of all charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain was reinstated to the Aurora police department on restricted duty and will receive more than $200,000 in back pay, The Denver Post reports.
Nathan Woodyard’s “reintegration” into the police force comes weeks after a jury found him not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in November.
The killing of McClain, who became unconscious as several officers held him down and then was injected with a dangerously high dose of ketamine, sparked national outrage and many protests.
Woodyard had been suspended without pay for two years since he was indicted for his role in the death of the 23-year-old. Now that he has been acquitted, his suspension from the police force ended immediately per the law.
According to CBS News, in accordance with the Aurora City Charter, Section 3-16(j), “Indictment of a member of the Civil Service, or the filing of an information or felony complaint against him by a prosecuting agency, charging any felony shall be cause for an immediate and indefinite suspension without pay upon order of the Chief, provided that such suspension shall be terminated by restoration to the service or by discharge as soon as the decision of the court becomes final.”
Restricted duty for the officer means “not in uniform, no public contact, and no enforcement actions) pending next steps in the reintegration process.”
According to the department, the length of the reintegration process “will be determined by the employee, the length of their extended absence, and other circumstances.”
“Consequently, Mr. Woodyard would need to undergo reintegration for a period of time as numerous policies and practices at the Aurora Police Department have changed since he was placed on administrative leave without pay in Sept. 2021. Upon successful completion of the reintegration process and after accounting for any other circumstances that may arise, Mr. Woodyard would be eligible for reassignment to a position within the department at the chief’s discretion,” stated the department in a news release.
Woodyard is one of three Aurora police officers and two paramedics charged in the death of McClain in 2019. The trial of the two other police ended in a split verdict last month, with one officer convicted of homicide and the other acquitted. The paramedics’ trial, now in progress, began in late November after a jury was convened.