After last week’s decision to drop a five-year prison sentence for a paramedic involved in the death of Elijah McClain, a flurry of requests to review the judge and his ruling have landed in the inbox of the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline.
Adams County Judge Mark Warner wiped away Aurora Fire and Rescue paramedic Peter Cichuniec’s original sentence for four years probation on Sept. 13. The decision was met with outrage from various community members and organizations, including the Aurora Chapter of the NAACP, following the decision.
But the outrage of someone who doesn’t live in Colorado has sparked a response. People from all over the country have logged on the state’s judicial discipline website and clicked on “request for evaluation form” to express the heated opinion that Cichuniec should still be in prison.
Brie McReynolds, a 33-year-old woman living in Phoenix, heard about Warner’s decision last week. She said the news that Warner reduced the sentence felt like an incredible slap in the face and immediately responded by making several TikTok videos calling for action.
“I created a three-step process so anybody who wants to file a request for evaluation for judicial conduct for that judge can do so,” McReynolds said in one of the videos that has now been viewed 12,700 times.
McReynolds went a step further in providing a template for others to use when filing thos requests. Since Sept. 13, the five videos related to Cichuniec’s resentencing have received over 263,000 views combined.
The State Attorney General after Warner adjourned the resentencing hearing said to CPR News: “We are disappointed the court reduced his sentence today, but we respect the court’s decision.” When asked whether the AG would or even legally could appeal the decision, Weiser’s office declined to comment.
“I genuinely did not expect it to gain traction. I was kind of on Friday, just raw reacting. That's when I made that first video,” McReynolds said. “When I was going through the comments and stuff like that and people saying over and over again, “We have to do something, but what can we do?” And especially, “How do I say this?””
Joanna Shaffer, an Air Force veteran and stay-home mother living in Newport News, Va, saw McReynolds’ TikTok videos and was compelled to file an RFE.
“When I looked into it and I realized that this was actually the reality of what was happening, I was inspired to reach out via email to the [Colorado Commission of Judicial Discipline] because Brie made it so simple,” said Shaffer, who’s best friend lives in Aurora and attended her wedding there two years ago. “This isn't the first time I've done something like this through TikTok. But even being in Newport News, Va, it's something that makes you feel like you actually do have a little bit of power to fight against injustice.”
The Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline has little authority to take action
The commission would not reveal how many requests for Warner’s evaluation have been submitted in the last week. But Executive Director Anne Mangiardi said the commission has no authority to act on allegations of mistakes. She said the most common request for evaluation involves a complaint over a ruling.
When the complaint involves a ruling, the executive director writes back to tell the person that it falls out of the commission’s jurisdiction.
“There's no guarantee that people are going to be happy with the outcome all of the time,” said Jim Carpenter, a citizen member of the commission. “The important thing is whether they're happy with the system and people usually don't make judgements just based on one thing or two things, but they look at the whole system.”
Warner was appointed as a District Judge in 2005 by Gov. Bill Owens. His most recent evaluation in 2020 found that he meets performance standards. Warner will be up for retention in 2027.
Last December, Cichuniec was convicted of negligent homicide and second degree assault, unlawful drug administration for the authorization of a lethal dose of ketamine to Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black massage therapist. While Cichuniec received the minimum prison sentence, it was the stiffest handed down among the three Aurora Police officers and two paramedics tried last Fall.
Warner told the court that it was appropriate to reconsider the sentence because he was not an ongoing risk to society. Cichuniec’s attorneys told the court that he has been a model inmate while serving time at the Sterling Correctional Facility.
“The court finds that really there are unusual extenuating circumstances that are truly exceptional in this particular case, particularly as the court had viewed the trial and really Mr. Cichuniec’s role in the events that occurred,” Warner said.
How did someone from Phoenix get involved?
McReynolds hasn’t been involved with social justice and political issues for long. But she said became aware of McClain’s death after being charged with a DUI when she was 23. Because she was unable to drive, she said she would walk down this street listening and dancing to music. It was the same thing McClain was doing on the night he was confronted by Aurora police officers responding to a suspicious person call.
“Never, not in a million years would it have ever occurred to me that somebody would call the cops about that because I was just acting funny,” McReynolds said. “And it's like he was doing exactly the same thing I was doing, but he was Black.” McReynolds recently launched her own website, The Voter Information Vault, to bring awareness to McClain’s death and other social justice and political issues. But, it was TikTok where she has garnered the most traction. McReynolds, who has never visited Colorado or has any connections to the state, used ChatGTP to find ways to voice her concerns with the government.
