Reaction after three Tacoma police officers acquitted in Manny Ellis' death
What You Need To Know
🚔 Tacoma police officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine faced felony charges in the death of Manuel "Manny" Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who died in police custody on March 3, 2020.
🏛 After a monthslong trial and three days of jury deliberations, the jury found the officers not guilty on all counts. The trial was the first test of a state law making it easier to charge officers for using deadly force.
🎧 The Walk Home, a national award-winning podcast from KNKX and The Seattle Times, goes deeper into the life and death of Manny Ellis and what led to this trial. The latest episode looks at key moments from the trial.
🗒 KNKX reporters Mayowa Aina and Jared Brown are covering the trial. Questions or comments about the trial? Contact us at outreach@knkx.org
KNKX reporters Mayowa Aina and Jared Brown discuss reaction to Thursday's verdict
Listen: KNKX reporter Jared Brown reports for NPR
Tacoma takes in the verdict: 'When I see Manny Ellis, I picture myself'
More than 50 people in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood gathered Thursday night for a protest in the hours after a jury acquitted three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis in 2020.
The protesters gathered under a mural of Ellis, and called for jailing the officers: Some chanted or held signs saying “can’t breathe, sir” – words Ellis said while police were holding him down.
Christian Tullar lives down the street. He’s followed the trial very closely; Ellis’ death is what inspired him to start protesting two years ago.
"You know, when I see Manny Ellis, I picture myself," Tullar said. "I'm 23. I'm Black, Hispanic – I’m just mixed. I think that most Black people can see themselves in this position, especially Black men...So it's really harrowing to know that that's happening in your town."
Protesters held a vigil in front of the mural, then marched to a nearby police precinct and stood for six minutes of silence to represent the amount of time officers held Ellis down. The exact amount of time was disputed during the trial.
Photos: From the courtroom to a memorial mural
On Thursday afternoon, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff read the jury's highly anticipated verdict: not guilty on all counts.
The officers' families and supporters hugged and celebrated, a sharp contrast to Manny Ellis' family, their friends and supporters.
All parties left the courthouse, where they'd been present almost daily for more than three months. Some of the defense attorneys lingered, giving interviews to press after their clients exited.
Members of Ellis' family took a different path: to a mural painted in his memory that has become a gathering place for both celebration and advocacy. About 50 people were present.
The protest moved into a nearby intersection, disrupting traffic as multiple speakers called for justice, accountability for police and change in Tacoma.
A couple miles away, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodard held a press conference where she called for peaceful protest and pledged Ellis would not be forgotten.
Around 7 p.m., the protestors moved to the parking lot of the nearby Tacoma Police Precinct at S 16th St. and M.L.K. Jr Way. They held a six-minute moment of silence before returning to Ellis' mural and dispersing.
KNKX reporters Mayowa Aina, Jared Brown and Scott Greenstone reported from Tacoma. Follow KNKX on air and online Friday for more updates on the community's reaction.
Gov. Jay Inslee releases statement about verdict
Gov. Jay Inslee, who ordered state patrol to take over the initial investigation, released a statement Thursday evening about the verdict.
“Regardless of how people feel about today’s verdict, everyone should remember this case began when the Ellis family experienced a profound loss that was not properly investigated," Inslee said in the statement.
He cited the events in this case leading to the state's new Office of Independent Investigations, which launched this year after delays. Inslee also credited the Attorney General's office for providing "a full airing of the evidence."
“We can respect our judicial system without diminishing the fact our society has more to do. Today’s outcome will no doubt spark relief for some and immense pain for others," he said.
City of Tacoma says internal police department investigation will be completed by Friday
In a statement released Thursday evening, the City of Tacoma said the Tacoma Police Department's internal investigation, which had been on hold due to the criminal trial, resumed on Dec. 6, after testimony in the trial concluded.
The city said TPD expects to complete that internal affairs investigation, which included reviewing the officers' testimony, by Friday.
"The past nearly four years have been filled with wide-spread anger, mistrust, and apprehension and have severely divided the people of this city. Even though this criminal process has concluded, Tacoma’s elected and city leaders understand there are many questions about where we all go from here, as a city, as a community, and as a police department," the statement reads.
It goes on to detail the next steps after the internal affairs investigation concludes, including potential discipline.
It is unclear if the officers would return, regardless of the outcome of the internal investigation. Officer Matthew Collins now lives out of state, in Oregon. Attorneys for Officer Christopher Burbank said he is unlikely to return to TPD.
Officer Timothy Rankine's attorneys have not responded to a request for comment.
Read the full statement. Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, Police Chief Avery Moore and City Manager Elizabeth Pauli are currently holding a press conference at the Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma.
Updated Dec. 21, 2023 at 5:34 p.m. to include information about the officers returning to TPD.
Protestors gather in Hilltop intersection calling for justice
A group of about 50 protesters is gathered near a mural dedicated to Manny Ellis, at the intersection of S 11th St and M.L.K. Jr. Way, in the center of Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood.
"Justice for Manny! Justice for Manny!" they chanted.
Councilmember-elect Jamika Scott spoke through a megaphone as members of Ellis' family and their supporters stood in the street.
Another Tacoma Action Collective organizer Jaleesa Trapp also spoke as did Ellis' sister Monét Carter-Mixon.
Traffic remains impacted and Sound Transit suspended T Line service due to the protest.
Verdict met with tears, and cheers, in crowded courtroom
Immediately after Judge Bryan Chushcoff read the decision, relatives of Ellis and others in the gallery cleared out of the courtroom, which was packed with at least 50 people. Some sobs could be heard from the public seating area.
Chushcoff said once papers were signed, the officers were free to leave, and cheers erupted from the gallery where family and friends of the defendants were seated. After the judge advised the officers to be careful because emotions were running high, Burbank, Collins and Rankine were escorted out of the room by Pierce County Sheriff's Department deputies.
All three officers have been free on bail and have remained on paid leave from the Tacoma Police Department since they were charged and arrested in May 2021. Collins and Burbank both served as Tacoma Police Department officers for about five years before the fatal encounter with Ellis. Rankine is a more junior officer who responded to the incident as backup. It’s unclear if or when the officers will return to patrol.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
State officials, police accountability advocates react after not guilty verdict
"I want to start by thanking the jury and court staff for their service. I also want to thank the members of my legal team for their extraordinary hard work and dedication. I know the Ellis family is hurting, and my heart goes out to them." - Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
"While getting these officers to trial was a huge milestone, we have a long way to go to remove the legal and cultural barriers to holding police accountable." - Sonia Joseph, board president of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability.
Ellis' family to make a statement, Mayor of Tacoma calls press conference
In the wake of a verdict finding three Tacoma police officers not guilty on all counts, Manuel Ellis' family plans to make a statement at a mural dedicated to Ellis' memory in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood.
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards also called a press conference for later today. She will be joined by Police Chief Avery Moore and City Manager Elizabeth Pauli.
Stay tuned to KNKX on air and online for more about their remarks and reaction from the community.
Officers found not guilty on all counts
Verdict will be read at 3 p.m.
After a quiet Thursday without any additional questions for the court, the jury has reached a verdict.
Watch the proceedings via the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Jury appears deadlocked on some criminal charges, judge instructs them to continue deliberations
The presiding juror in the trial of three Tacoma police officers accused of killing an unarmed Black man told the court Wednesday that the jury could not reach a verdict for at least one of the three defendants.
Answering questions from Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff, the head juror, a gray-haired woman in the front row, said it wasn’t probable that jurors would reach a verdict for all three officers in a reasonable amount of time.
Despite the apparent deadlock on some of the criminal charges, the jury is not entirely hung. Asked if jurors could reach a decision as to any of the officers, the foreperson said yes.
"They have some decision, but they’re hung on some things," Chushcoff said before the jury panel was called into the courtroom.
The panel of seven men and five women are tasked with deciding whether officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank are guilty of second-degree murder or first-degree manslaughter for the March 3, 2020, death of Manuel Ellis, whose last words were, “I can’t breathe.” Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Chushcoff told jurors to return to the jury room just before 2 p.m. They were instructed to complete any verdict forms they can and continue their deliberations.
Almost immediately after the jurors left the courtroom, the court received another question indicating there is one holdout on the panel. Chushcoff said jurors asked, “If there is one juror that is resolute in their decision and will not change their mind, can we conclude?”
Chushcoff told jurors to continue their discussions after he conferred with defense attorneys and prosecutors from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.
The judge said he would seriously consider declaring a mistrial if jurors don’t reach a verdict by the end of Thursday. The court has previously said if jurors don’t reach a verdict by the end of Friday, they will be excused during the week of Christmas and will reconvene Jan. 2.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Jury deliberations start over again on Tuesday
For the second day in a row, jury deliberations had to start over Tuesday in the historic trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with the death of Manuel Ellis.
A juror tested positive for COVID and was relieved on Tuesday. That juror, a man, will remain in the pool of alternate jurors, which stands at two.
On Monday, a juror was relieved and placed in the alternate pool because their spouse had a medical incident that required hospitalization. Despite the reshuffling, the composition of the jury remains seven men and five women.
The jury deliberated for a day and a half last week before it had to start the process over on Monday when an alternate joined the panel. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff told lawyers in the case that if further COVID cases develop among jurors it threatens to postpone deliberations into January.
The court has already announced that the case will recess at the end of the day Friday for the duration of the Christmas holiday week.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Jury asks one question Monday, deliberations resume Tuesday
After 10 weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for just a day and a half last week before having to start from scratch on Monday morning. An alternate juror elevated as a replacement after a regular juror was relieved due to a family emergency.
The juror who was relieved on Monday was not excused from service, but moved to the alternate pool. That leaves two alternates for the duration of deliberations, in case other jurors need to be replaced.
Jurors asked one question of the court on Monday afternoon: Whether Ellis’ arrest made him a participant in the offenses alleged against the officers. Judge Chushcoff directed them to review jury instructions, in particular one that defines “participant.” It states: “The victim of the crime is not a participant in that crime.”
The jury resumes deliberating on Tuesday morning.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Juror relieved due to family emergency, deliberations began anew
Jury deliberations began anew on Monday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis, after a juror was relieved due to a family emergency.
The jury had deliberated for a day and a half last week but started from scratch on Monday morning after an alternate juror was elevated as a replacement.
The jury’s composition remains unchanged: Seven men and five women. One alternate juror remains, leaving room for just one more juror to be excused in the case.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff and lawyers for the prosecution and defense questioned another juror Monday after he mentioned during deliberations that the officers were on paid leave. That fact had not been presented in testimony, raising concerns that the jury was consuming media reports about the 10-week trial.
The juror told the court he has not been reading news coverage throughout the trial, and Chushcoff was satisfied that the juror could remain on the panel.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Jury continues deliberating Monday
The jury will continue deliberating Monday in the trial of the three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis.
Jurors are in their third day of deliberations over second-degree murder and manslaughter charges against Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank and manslaughter charges against Officer Timothy Rankine.
The jury’s questions about the law so far highlight the complexity of the case. Two questions were if a lawful use of force can become unlawful during an arrest. Two others asked if unintentional strangulation amounts to assault and whether they can consider the force used by the officers collectively.
Judge Bryan Chushcoff has mostly referred the jurors back to their pre-approved packet of legal instructions.
In closing arguments, the prosecution said Collins and Burbank punched, choked and Tasered Ellis into handcuffs when he wasn’t fighting back. The state also said back-up officer Rankine was reckless when he pressed on Ellis’ back after he was hogtied and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
The defense said Ellis attacked the officers and resisted arrest with extreme strength.
Follow KNKX on air and online for updates about the case.
New from The Seattle Times: Tacoma police officers’ trial takes a racial turn before jury deliberations
A new article from Seattle Times investigative reporter Patrick Malone, with reporting contributed by KNKX reporter Jared Brown, reports how race became an issue in court and afterward in the gallery as the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manuel Ellis was handed to the jury.
And listen to the remark by special prosecutor Patty Eakes that prompted calls for the case to be dismissed. Then you'll hear Judge Bryan Chushcoff's response, after the jury left the courtroom.
Jury sends several questions to the judge as deliberations continue
The jury resumed deliberating Friday in the trial of the three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis.
The jury has sent questions to the judge about unintentional strangulation and the collective force used by the officers. The jury has asked twice whether a lawful use of force can become unlawful during a police interaction.
The judge has largely referred the jury back to their verdict packets with legal instructions.
Jurors, who got the case mid-day Thursday, are considering second-degree murder and manslaughter charges against Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank. The prosecution argued that the officers betrayed their duty as police officers by punching, choking and Tasering Ellis into handcuffs when he wasn’t fighting back.
The jury is also deliberating on manslaughter charges against Officer Timothy Rankine. He arrived as back-up and pressed on Ellis’ back after he was hogtied and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
The officers’ attorneys argued that Ellis attacked them and died from a methamphetamine overdose exacerbated by his heart condition.
Meanwhile, Judge Bryan Chushcoff is weighing the officers’ attorneys’ motion to dismiss the case based on the prosecution’s rebuttal closing argument. Chushcoff said the state evoked racial stereotypes by accusing the officers of treating Ellis, a Black man, like an animal or less than human, implying the officers are bigoted.
If a verdict is not reached by 3 p.m. Friday, the jury deliberations will end for the week and resume Monday.
New episode of 'The Walk Home' is available now
After 10 weeks of testimony and arguments, the verdict in the trial of the three Tacoma police officers charged with the murder and manslaughter of Manny Ellis is now in the hands of the jury.
While the jury is deliberating, the team from The Walk Home podcast has produced a new two-part episode that looks at key moments from the trial and takes a deeper look at the defense’s strategy.
Listen to both parts below or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Lance Kagey Of Rotator CreativeWhile the jury deliberates, listen to the different stories the eyewitnesses and the officers tell about what happened the night Manny Ellis died. -
Lance Kagey Of Rotator CreativeWhile the jury deliberates, we dive into the defense strategy, the dueling narratives over Manny’s cause of death, and the decisions the jury has to make.
Jury has begun deliberating
The jury of seven men and five women was to begin discussions shortly after a cart of evidence was wheeled to them at about 11:20 a.m.
Attorneys and a judicial assistant spent a little more than two hours sifting through exhibits from trial to determine which had been admitted as evidence. Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff said it amounted to six binders, a box of more evidence and an envelope.
None of the defendants were required to be present for the court proceedings. Chushcoff said they will be called back to the courtroom for any questions from the jury and for the verdict.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Judge on Wednesday's motion dismiss: 'this community needs to hear from a jury'
Just as special prosecutor Patty Eakes finished her rebuttal closing arguments late Wednesday afternoon, attorneys for the officers again asked Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff to dismiss the case for prosecutorial misconduct based on the last words Eakes told jurors.
“Mr. Ellis didn’t need to die that day,” Eakes said. “If only he had been granted the dignity of being human and being responded to.”
A flurry of objections came from the defense table, and after jurors were excused from the room, Chushcoff told Eakes she had crossed the line.
The previous morning, he cautioned the special prosecutor about telling jurors the officers on trial had treated Ellis like he was “less than human,” saying it was a violation of the judge’s orders prohibiting lawyers from comparing anyone to animals.
He said it implies the officers are bigots or that issues of racial prejudice are involved in the case, something prosecutors haven’t presented any evidence about.
Chushcoff said if the defendant were an African American, he would dismiss the case for the reasons the defense had outlined. But he declined to do so.
“I don’t want to dismiss this case because this community needs to hear from a jury about this, not a judge,” Chushcoff said.
Chushcoff said they had come too far, too much money had been spent and too many lives were at stake for the state to be so “cavalier” about the court’s orders.
Eakes disagreed with the court’s characterization of her conduct, telling Chushcoff her understanding was she couldn’t refer to anything about the officers treating Ellis like an animal. Chushcoff said it seemed to him that in so many words, she had suggested that jurors ignore the evidence and convict the officers.
Deliberations will begin Thursday, but first the court spent the morning sorting through exhibits from the trial to determine which will go back with jurors to the deliberation room.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
After months of testimony, evidence and arguments, the case heads to the jury
The jury will begin deliberations Thursday morning in the trial of the three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” while hogtied with an officer on his back.
"To put him in that position, and to not respond to him, when he was asking to please just help him breathe. As defense expert Chris Nielsen said, 'they own the outcome," said special prosecutor Patty Eakes during closing arguments earlier this week.
The Washington state Attorney General’s Office hired her to try its first-ever criminal case against local police. Tacoma officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine were charged in May 2021.
Then-patrol partners Collins and Burbank stopped Ellis late at night in March 2020, then beat and Tasered him into handcuffs. They face second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
"All they know is they're being attacked by a guy out in the streets in a dangerous part of town. And they're acting accordingly," Wayne Fricke, an attorney for Burbank, told the jury.
Prosecutors allege the officers lied about the attack to justify their actions.
Rankine, who faces manslaughter charges, arrived as back-up and pressed on Ellis' back.
"He's merely trying to hold him in place so he doesn't thrash around anymore," said his attorney Mark Conrad.
In addition to determining whether the officers' force was lawful, the jury also has to decide whether police suffocated Ellis or he overdosed on meth.
Attorneys for the officers completed their closing arguments Wednesday afternoon. The defense attempted to have the case dismissed again, based on Eakes' closing remarks. Chushcoff did not say when he’ll issue a ruling.
The jury was sent home and will reconvene Thursday to begin deliberations.
Correction: Updated 12/15/23 to reflect Chushcoff did not deny the motion to dismiss. He took it under advisement.
Collins' attorney closes with list of reasons the jury should doubt the prosecution's case
A Pierce County jury heard the defense’s penultimate closing arguments Wednesday morning in the trial of three Tacoma police officers accused of killing Manuel Ellis.
Jared Ausserer, an attorney for officer Matthew Collins, took jurors through a list of 18 reasons why they should doubt prosecutors’ theory of how his client and the other defendants are criminally responsible for Ellis’ death.
The lawyer began his closing arguments Tuesday afternoon, and in about two hours stretched over two days he has told jurors there is reason to doubt nearly every aspect of the state’s case, including the credibility of their eyewitnesses, the findings of their medical experts, their selection of witnesses and even prosecutors’ interpretation of video evidence.
Ausserer said prosecutors had ignored facts that didn’t fit into their story of how Ellis died — unjustly attacked by two officers, restrained and sat on to the point of asphyxiation while the two officers and a third ignored the man pleading with them that he could not breathe.
“You have to ask yourself, ‘Why in the world would Matthew Collins risk everything?’” Ausserer said. “He just had a baby. Why would he randomly attack some guy walking down the street?”
Attorneys for the prosecution and defense are in the third day of closing arguments, weaving together for jurors nine weeks of testimony to make their cases for why the panel should either convict Collins, Burbank and Rankine or acquit them.
Prosecutors from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and attorneys for Burbank and Collins spent much of their time in front of the jury attacking the credibility of their opponents' most vital witnesses.
Special prosecutor Patty Eakes on Tuesday zeroed in on the statements the defendants gave to investigators looking into Ellis' death days after the fatal incident. She pointed to Collins’ describing Ellis as having “superhuman strength” and continuing to fight him throughout the entire incident, which is contradicted by video evidence, telling jurors that the officer’s words were designed to justify his use of force.
In one example, Eakes said Collins told investigators he tried to use the lateral vascular neck restraint on Ellis because he didn’t know where Burbank was and thought his partner might be unconscious somewhere. Collins said he felt the headlock was his only option, but Eakes played cellphone video that showed Burbank was standing right behind him.
Collin’s attorney defended his credibility Wednesday morning, asking jurors to consider why, if he was lying, he left out details in his statement that would have supported his case, such as Ellis saying, “Try it again,” after he was shocked with a Taser.
It’s because Collins didn’t hear it, Ausserer argued, just as he didn’t hear Ellis repeatedly say, “I can’t breathe.” Even if Collins had heard Ellis say those words 100 times, the lawyer said, it doesn’t make his client criminally responsible.
Going after the credibility of the state’s medical experts, including Dr. Thomas Clark, who conducted Ellis’ autopsy, Ausserer suggested that most of the experts could not come to a definite conclusion about what caused Ellis’ death, saying Clark had incomplete information when he ruled Ellis’ death a homicide.
The doctors who did back up Clark, such as the state’s cardiologist, Dr. Daniel Wohlgelernter, were “hired guns,” Ausserer said, and they were working with what he characterized as inherently flawed findings.
“They don’t know. The state doesn’t know what caused the death, and so they’re characterizing this as an indictment of everybody at the scene,” Ausserer said.
Jurors began to hear closing arguments from an attorney for Rankine, Mark Conrad, before court broke for lunch. Conrad will continue to make his case to the jury Wednesday afternoon, followed by prosecutors’ rebuttal.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Attorneys for Matthew Collins deliver closing arguments
Attorneys for Officer Matthew Collins began delivering their closing arguments Wednesday morning.
Defense attorney Jared Ausserer addressed the jury before the morning recess and will continue his remarks when the court reconvenes.
Attorneys for Officer Timothy Rankine are expected next. The state will have the opportunity for rebuttal after the defense's closing remarks are complete.
Attorneys for Officer Christopher Burbank delivered their closing remarks Tuesday.
After three days of closing arguments, the case may go to the jury Wednesday afternoon.
Watch the proceedings via the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Defense says Ellis 'created his own death' in closing arguments
A lawyer for one of three Tacoma police officers on trial for the death of Manuel Ellis told jurors that Ellis was to blame for his own death by resisting arrest during closing arguments Tuesday.
“[The officers] were trying to defuse the situation in the beginning, and it spun out of control,” said Wayne Fricke, representing officer Christopher “Shane” Burbank. “This is a situation where [Ellis] created his own death. It was his behavior that forced the officers to use force against him.”
Fricke said prosecutors from the Washington Attorney General’s Office decided to “compound this tragedy” by charging the officers. “It’s not based on the evidence, but it’s based on something else. This should not be a political decision.”
The defense’s closing arguments, which will continue Wednesday, present jurors with a stark choice after a nine-week trial that has pitted eyewitness testimony against the officer’s statements.
The trial is the first courtroom test of Washington’s new voter-approved law that lowered the legal threshold for charging officers with on-duty deaths. It marks the first time since 1938 in which three Washington officers have faced charges for a death.
Fricke told jurors that the force Burbank and the other officers used against Ellis was justified because he resisted arrest and that they had legal standing to take Ellis into custody for hitting their patrol vehicle.
Jared Ausserer, a lawyer representing Collins, added that resisting arrest is justification for arrest. As for the manslaughter charge, Fricke and Ausserer said drugs — and not the force used by police — killed Ellis. The jury can rule Ellis’ death was excusable if it determines the officers acted lawfully.
Ausserer, during his closing argument, insinuated Ellis’ family lawyer ginned up evidence against the officers by collecting cellphone videos and interviews from eyewitnesses who implicated the officers. “Those three eyewitnesses are not credible at all,” he said.
Fricke said the eyewitnesses did not see the beginning of the physical struggle between Ellis and the officers. “We know that tape [from cellphone videos] doesn’t show everything,” he said.
Fricke took aim at the credibility of one of the witnesses who recorded cellphone video and testified against the officers. Sara McDowell, who happened to be driving by, testified that Burbank and Collins attacked Ellis without provocation and provided cell phone video that was critical to the trial.
“We know that she said in a social media post that she’s going to lie on the stand,” Fricke said.
During an online spat with a supporter of the officers over a year before the trial, McDowell said she was “lying to shut you all down.” McDowell testified that it was a typographical error, and she meant to write that she was “dying” to testify against the officers. Ausserer said she showed bias against police by lashing out online at people around the country about the case.
The officers and their lawyers have maintained that Ellis exhibited extraordinary strength and persisted to struggle with them, resisting being handcuffed and flailing his legs as police tried to gain control of him. Fricke said that Ellis’ resistance compelled the officers to use force against him.
Fricke pointed the jury to Ellis’ arrests in 2019 and 2015, both while high on meth and involving physical struggles with police, and said the same thing happened on the night he died.
“It was the Manny Ellis who was high on meth, the paranoid, violent and unpredictable Manny Ellis that officers Burbank and Collins encountered,” Fricke said.
Ausserer played cellphone video of Ellis’ 2019 arrest that showed him nude, charging at deputies and being zapped with a Taser. Ausserer also showed jurors Ellis’ statement to a treatment provider, in which Ellis acknowledged he was anxious whenever he encountered police after that incident.
Fricke argued Ellis’ drug abuse left him vulnerable to sudden death, particularly when compounded by the high level of meth in his system. He called Ellis “a time bomb.” “All the abuse that he did to his body came to a head,” Fricke said.
Closing arguments are expected to conclude Wednesday, when Rankine’s legal team is expected to present its closing argument and the prosecution will offer a rebuttal argument before the jury begins deliberating.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Prosecutors question officers' credibility in closing arguments
During closing arguments Tuesday morning, special prosecutor Patty Eakes urged jurors to question the credibility of the police officers on trial for the death of Manuel Ellis.
Comparing the video evidence and eyewitness testimony to the statements of the officers, Eakes said, revealed that the officers overstated Ellis’ actions on the night he died and minimized the consequences of their own actions.
“They make Mr. Ellis out to be violent in ways you don’t see on the video,” Eakes said. “Why? They’re justifying the use of force that you can see happened in that video. Do you trust the video? Do you trust what the eyewitnesses say?”
Cause of death
Evidence presented at trial showed that by the time he died, Ellis had been slammed to the ground, struck with fists and elbows, placed in a chokehold, jolted three times with a Taser, knelt and sat upon by a succession of officers, had his handcuffed wrists tethered to his ankles with a strap, and had a nylon spit hood placed over his face.
Lawyers for the officers have pointed to the high level of methamphetamine in Ellis’ system and the enlarged heart that was discovered during his autopsy as the causes of his death.
But Eakes spotlighted testimony from medical experts that Ellis lacked the telltale heart damage associated with an overdose, and that the presence of a pulse after he’d stopped breathing indicated his death was breathing-related.
Charges and testimony
Officers Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38, and Timothy Rankine, 35, all face charges of first-degree manslaughter. The jury has the option of convicting the officers of the lesser included offense of second-degree manslaughter.
Collins and Burbank, face additional charges of second-degree murder.
All three have pleaded not guilty, are free on bail and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave. Their attorneys are expected to begin their closing statements Tuesday afternoon.
The murder charges allege that Burbank and Collins detained Ellis unlawfully because they hadn’t observed him committing a crime, then they committed either third-degree assault by Burbank using a Taser on him unnecessarily, or second-degree assault by Collins placing him in a neck hold without justification, leading to his death.
The manslaughter charges accuse the officers of acting recklessly and failing to take reasonable steps by continuing to apply force to Ellis after he said he couldn’t breathe.
Collins testified that Ellis acted aggressively toward officers by lifting him off the ground and throwing him through the air – something that nobody else claimed happened, including Burbank who was sitting in the passenger seat of their patrol vehicle. Eakes seized on that fact and told jurors to view Collins’ testimony with skepticism.
“Is it reasonable? Is it believable?” Eakes said. “This isn’t a comic book.”
Burbank and Collins both told detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, which initially investigated the case, that Ellis smacked the patrol car window where Burbank sat and threatened to punch the officer, prompting Burbank to abruptly swing open his door and knock Ellis to the ground.
The defense has tailored its line of questioning to spotlight what appears to be a handprint in white powder on the window where Burbank sat, implying that the powder was from the donuts Ellis had purchased at a convenience store just before the encounter.
However, Eakes showed a photo that indicated the donuts had not been opened, and likely weren’t the source of the handprint.
Three eyewitnesses testified that they observed the interaction between Ellis and the officers beginning before either officer left their cruiser, implying that they saw how the fatal exchange began.
Eakes noted that those witnesses, two of whom recorded cellphone videos of Collins and Burbank roughly handling Ellis, said Ellis was walking away from the police cruiser when he appeared to be summoned back, then was promptly leveled by Burbank’s car door.
Those witnesses testified that Ellis did nothing to provoke the officers’ violence. But the officers and their lawyers have maintained that Ellis exhibited extraordinary strength and persisted to struggle with them, resisting being handcuffed and flailing his legs as police tried to gain control of him.
Eakes urged jurors to consider who had motive to lie – the eyewitnesses with nothing at stake, or the officers who were under investigation for a death when they made their statements.
Defense argues case should be dismissed again
Before Eakes presented the final half of her closing statement on Tuesday morning, Collins’ lawyer, Jared Ausserer, argued to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcuff that in the first half of her argument, presented Monday afternoon, she had ignored rulings limiting what could be presented at trial and altered exhibits before presenting them to the jury.
Eakes had shown several slides that spotlighted particular aspects of pieces of evidence. In doing so, Ausserer claimed that Eakes was prejudicing the jury against his client and the other officers. Ausserer accused prosecutors for the Washington Attorney General’s Office of deliberately skirting the parameters the judge imposed pretrial about what could be shown to the jury.
Rankine’s lawyer Mark Conrad argued that by telling jurors the officers treated Ellis like he was “less than human,” Eakes violated the judge’s order blocking lawyers from comparing anyone to animals.
Legal precedent has excluded references to people as animalistic as “coded racist language,” Conrad pointed out. “They know exactly what they’re doing,” Conrad said. “They’re trying to invoke stereotypes and prejudice against our clients.” Collins and Burbank are white; Rankine is Asian.
In their statements to detectives and in testimony, the officers at times described the sounds Ellis made as “animalistic.”
Judge Chushcoff refused to dismiss the charges against the officers, but he cautioned Eakes, “You’re really pushing the boundaries on this, and not just on this one occasion – in the totality of the state’s approach in this case, you’re pushing the boundaries. Don’t push it any further.”
TPD officers outside courthouse greet defendants
As Collins, Burbank and Rankine left the courthouse for the midday break, at least seven active Tacoma police officers in uniform, some on bikes, some arriving in cruisers, greeted the defendants in the courthouse parking lot with handshakes, hugs and encouragement.
The jury is expected to hear closing arguments from the officers’ defense lawyers Tuesday afternoon, with the case landing in the jury’s hands to begin deliberation after that.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Closing remarks will continue, jury deliberation expected to begin Tuesday
In court Monday, the prosecution began its closing argument in the trial of the Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis.
Special prosecutor Patty Eakes summed up the state Attorney General’s Office’s first-ever prosecution of local law enforcement.
"Manny Ellis told them over and over and over again, that he couldn't breathe. They heard him. And each of the defendants chose to ignore him and to let him die," Eakes said.
"They chose instead to treat him like an animal to restrain him, his hands and his feet restrained behind his back, together with a hood over his head, in the most dehumanizing position, you can imagine."
Officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine are the first officers to go on trial under a new state law that made it so prosecutors no longer have to prove police used deadly force with malice or bad intent.
All three officers face manslaughter charges in Ellis’ death. Collins and Burbank also face second-degree murder because they’re accused of arresting Ellis without a reason and lying that Ellis attacked them to justify their actions.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating Tuesday after the officers' attorneys deliver their closing remarks.
Watch the proceedings via the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Special prosecutor Patty Eakes begins closing arguments for the state
In closing arguments Monday afternoon in the historic trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manuel Ellis, prosecutors focused on the numerous times he said he couldn’t breathe during his fatal struggle with police.
“The most basic part of human existence: Breathe in, breathe out,” special prosecutor Patty Eakes for the Washington Attorney General’s Office told jurors.
“It’s so basic that we don’t even think about it, until we can’t breathe. And then, we fight for breath. We fight for breath because we want to live, because breath is life,” she said. “When any person tells us that we can’t breathe, we help them. It’s what reasonable people do because it’s so basic.”
Ellis, 33, died March 3, 2020, after telling police at least five times that he couldn’t breathe. The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by oxygen deprivation caused by physical restraint.
But over the course of the nine-week trial, lawyers for the three officers have argued that the high level of methamphetamine and an enlarged heart discovered during Ellis’ autopsy were the true cause of his death.
“Each of the defendants knew it was a risk, because Manny Ellis told them over and over again that he couldn’t breathe. And each of the defendants chose to ignore him and let him die,” Eakes said.
Officers Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38, and Timothy Rankine, 35, are on trial for first-degree manslaughter. Collins and Burbank, the first officers to contact Ellis when they reportedly saw him reach for the car of a door as it passed through an intersection, are also charged with second-degree murder.
All three have pleaded not guilty, are free on bail and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave.
In legal wrangling outside the presence of the jury, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Brian Chushcoff ruled that the jury also has the option of convicting the officers of the lesser offense of second-degree manslaughter.
Rankine was the last to perch on Ellis’ back. He testified that he continued to sit on Ellis’ back even after hearing Ellis gasp his last words: “I can’t breathe.”
“If you’re talking to me, then you can breathe just fine,” Eakes quoted Rankine as saying during her closing argument. She said Rankine spent most of the nine minutes while medics were en route to the scene sitting on Ellis’ back while he was hogtied and prone.
Collins and Burbank denied ever hearing Ellis say he couldn’t breathe. However, Collins can be heard on audio captured on a nearby home security camera responding “Shut the [expletive] up” after Ellis pleaded for air, which Eakes spotlighted during her closing argument.
Rankine’s partner, who was not charged, also testified that he heard Ellis say he could not breathe in the presence of Collins and Burbank.
By turning Ellis on his side for a longer time, sitting him up or placing him in a police car, Eakes said, the officers could have spared Ellis’ life.
“He didn’t need to die while he was tied up like an animal, with his pleas: ‘I can’t breathe sir. Please. I can’t breathe,’” Eakes said.
During weeks of testimony, experts for the prosecution testified that the officer strayed from accepted police practices, used excessive force and caused Ellis’ death. Defense experts countered with testimony that the officers operated within policy, did not use excessive force and drugs and poor health killed Ellis.
The defense focused heavily on Ellis’ prior arrests in 2015 and 2019, when he also was intoxicated on meth and struggled with police.
“Despite his troubles and the things you’ve heard in this case, [Ellis] is still a human being,” Eakes said. “He was loved. He was not an animal, and he was not a worthless human being.”
She said the charges are not an indictment of police in general, but rather “about these three officers and the choices they made.”
“They chose to treat Mr. Ellis like he was less than human … that’s why they face criminal charges in this case.”
Prosecutors don’t allege that the officers deliberately killed Ellis. Instead, the second-degree murder charges allege Burbank and Collins unlawfully assaulted and detained him, leading to his death. The manslaughter charges against all three officers accuse them of disregarding a substantial risk that death may occur and acting outside the judgment a reasonable person would use, resulting in Ellis’ death.
About 20 protestors gathered outside the courthouse chanting, “No justice, no peace,” and “Justice for Manny Ellis” during the court’s midday recess. Their voices echoed for blocks. Courthouse staff and other downtown workers gathered at windows and on sidewalks to watch after the clamor grabbed their attention.
The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday, when defense lawyers for the officers expect to present their closing arguments.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Defense makes last-minute bid to dismiss charges
Lawyers for three Tacoma police officers on trial for the death of Manuel Ellis made a list-minute bid Monday morning for dismissal of the charges against them.
One of Officer Timothy Rankine’s lawyers, Mark Conrad, argued that when prosecutors last week mentioned that Rankine had a lawyer present during an interview with detectives, it potentially planted a seed in jurors’ minds that his client had done something wrong.
While cross-examining Rankine last week, special prosecutor Patty Eakes for the Washington Attorney General’s Office questioned the three-day lag between Ellis’ death and Rankine’s interview with detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff’s department to “consider and counsel” his statement.
Conrad argued that Eakes deliberately violated an earlier ruling by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff prohibiting prosecutors from casting negative light on the officers’ exercise of their constitutional rights as defendants. Conrad insinuated that the Attorney General’s Office was hoping for a mistrial to get “a do-over” of a case that Conrad perceives as headed toward an acquittal.
Chushcoff ruled that Eakes’ remark violated his order, but was not deliberate and had minimal effect on the jury. He denied motions from all three officers to dismiss the charges against them, setting the stage for closing arguments to potentially begin Monday afternoon. The rest of the morning was spent haggling over jury instructions.
Jurors were instructed Monday that they also have the option of convicting the officers of the lesser included offense of second-degree manslaughter.
Throughout nine weeks of testimony, prosecutors presented expert witnesses who testified that the officers violated known policing standards, applied excessive force to Ellis and caused his death. The officers’ defense teams countered with experts of their own who said Ellis’ death was caused by drugs and health problems. Rankine and Collins testified; Burbank chose not to.
The officers’ attorneys took aim at Ellis’ history of addiction, zeroing in on his prior arrests in 2019 and 2015 that involved methamphetamine intoxication and physical confrontations with police. Chushcoff ruled that Ellis’ prior arrests were similar enough to the circumstances on the night he died that testimony about them was relevant.
Chushcoff, meanwhile, excluded evidence about the officers’ pasts, including numerous internal investigations of Burbank at a previous police job for use of force, and one accusation of racial bias. He also excluded testimony that Rankine lapsed into what his trainer called a “mental break” during a police academy exercise focused on appropriate uses of force.
Court will resume Monday afternoon with continued discussion outside of the jury’s presence about jury instructions.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Court finalizing jury instructions
Attorneys have spent the morning finalizing the instructions that jurors will use to decide their verdict.
Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with manslaughter.
Closing arguments are expected later today.
See KNKX's past coverage of the trial
Here are links to KNKX's previous live blogs, where we've posted daily updates since the trial started:
- Defense rests its case in trial of Tacoma officers charged in Manny Ellis' death (Nov. 27 - Dec. 6)
- Trial of Tacoma officers charged with Manny Ellis' death postponed until after Thanksgiving (Nov. 13 - 17)
- Prosecution rests in trial of Tacoma officers charged in Manny Ellis' death (Oct. 30 - Nov. 8)
- Prosecutors build their case in trial of Tacoma officers charged in Manuel Ellis' death (Oct. 16 - 27)
- First two weeks of testimony in trial of Tacoma officers charged in Manuel Ellis' death (Oct. 2 - 13)
- Jury selection in trial of Tacoma officers charged with killing Manuel Ellis (Sept. 18 - 29)
Questions or comments about the trial? Contact us at outreach@knkx.org
After more than nine weeks of testimony, closing arguments expected Monday
In court Monday morning, a jury is expected to hear closing arguments in the trial of the Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis.
With more than nine weeks of testimony to draw from Judge Bryan Chushcoff said he won’t put a time limit on closing arguments from the prosecution and from attorneys for each of the officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine.
Throughout the trial prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office have emphasized how Ellis pleaded that he couldn’t breathe and the police left him restrained in a hogtie with an officer on his back. State medical experts testified Ellis suffocated from the restraint.
The officers' attorneys contend that when Collins and Burbank stopped Ellis in an intersection late at night, Ellis attacked them, resisted arrest and died because a toxic dose of methamphetamine stopped his enlarged heart.
The prosecution has argued Collins and Burbank lied about Ellis' actions to justify the punches, neck hold and Taser shocks they used to handcuff him. The former patrol partners face second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Rankine arrived as back-up. He’s charged with manslaughter for holding Ellis face down after he was hogtied which the prosecution's use of force expert called “totally inappropriate.”
An expert defending the officers said it was reasonable if Ellis was resisting.
Watch the proceedings via the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.