First two weeks of testimony in trial of Tacoma officers charged in Manuel Ellis' death
What You Need to Know
🚔 Manuel "Manny" Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died March 3, 2020, after a violent struggle and restraint by Tacoma police officers. Officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine face felony charges in his death.
🏛 Jury selection began Sept. 18 and opening statements were delivered Oct. 3. Prosecutors said they expect to put on their case in about four weeks. Ellis' sister and mother are among the eight witnesses called to testify so far.
🎧 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.
🗒 KNKX reporters Mayowa Aina and Jared Brown will be covering the trial along with Patrick Malone of The Seattle Times. Questions or comments about the trial? Contact us at outreach@knkx.org
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Court is in recess until Monday, medical expert's testimony expected to continue
Court is in recess until Monday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manuel “Manny” Ellis on March 3, 2020. Officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine have been in court each day with their defense teams.
Over the past two weeks, the prosecution has called on eight witnesses to testify. Among them have been Ellis’ mother and sister, two eyewitnesses, and experts specializing in forensic video, crime scene re-creation and autopsies.
Based on eyewitnesses, video footage and medical experts, the prosecution has argued the officers violently attacked Ellis without justification and forcefully restrained him to the point he suffocated. The defense has claimed Ellis died of a drug overdose and questioned the credibility of those eyewitnesses.
Thursday ended with medical expert Roger Mitchell testifying that law enforcement played a bigger role in Ellis’ death than the initial autopsy report found.
Mitchell also recently testified as an expert witness in the trial of two Colorado police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain. Jurors in that trial reached a verdict Thursday, convicting one officer and acquitting the other.
Mitchell is expected to testify again on Monday as state attorneys continue to put forth the prosecution’s case.
Medical expert says law enforcement played a bigger role Ellis' death than the autopsy report found
A prosecution medical expert says law enforcement played a bigger role in the death of Manuel Ellis than the autopsy report found. Roger Mitchell is a forensic pathology expert and former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C. He reviewed Ellis’ autopsy report and visited Tacoma in 2022 to prepare his own report.
While testifying on Thursday, Mitchell says he found Ellis died from mechanical asphyxia, which is when a force or object stops someone from breathing.
“And then I say due to violent subdual. So I specifically suggest that that violent subdual is part of his cause of death as well," Mitchell testified.
He said that means officers violently struggled with Ellis, then forcefully restrained him.
Mitchell said his findings go further than the initial report by the former Pierce County Medical Examiner, who ruled Ellis’ death a homicide from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen. He said mechanical asphyxia can have more of an effect on a person’s body.
"I believe that it was not only hypoxia, because hypoxia played a part, but the fact that Mr. Ellis could not move his chest to be able to breathe the way he needed to breathe because of his position and the presence of individuals on top of him,” Mitchell said.
Lawyers for the officers have countered that Ellis had enough methamphetamine in his system to kill him.
Death investigator concludes testimony, forensic pathology expert takes the stand
Jurors and court goers in the trial of three Tacoma police officers accused of killing an unarmed Black man in their custody were confronted Thursday morning with grim photographs of Manuel Ellis lying dead in the street.
While a death investigator with the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office testified about what he saw when he arrived shortly after 3 a.m. at the corner of 96th Street and Ainsworth Avenue, prosecutors displayed on courtroom televisions at least 15 images of Ellis’ body.
Jacob Atzet pointed out Ellis’ bloodied cheek and knuckles, marks on his wrists and ankles from the restraints he was placed in and defects on his chest, where police shot him with a Taser. The first photo showed Ellis on his back with his feet near the curb. His black sweatshirt had been removed, and his exposed waist was partially covered by a white blanket.
Atzet told jurors he takes photos at the scene of death investigations to establish its location and the position of the dead person's body. As he reviewed them, assistant attorney general Lori Nicolavo zoomed in on Ellis’ hands and legs. Atzet testified that he didn’t notice any substances on the man’s palms other than blood.
Then, Nicolavo showed jurors the clothing Ellis was wearing that night. Handling each article with white gloves, the attorney walked up and down the jury box showing the panel his purple and white shorts, the yellow sweatpants he wore over them, his black sweatshirt and his white Nikes.
Finally, Nicolavo held the spit hood that was put over Ellis' head while restrained. Photographs from when it was booked into evidence appeared to show dark fluid inside of it.
The medical examiner who determined Ellis’ cause of death, Dr. Thomas Clark, noted the spit hood, which contains a mesh portion, as well as Ellis’ restraints and his positioning were significant factors in his death, according to his postmortem exam report. Clark has been identified as an expert witness for prosecutors.
Defense attorneys for the police officers then cross-examined the death investigator, asking Atzet about parts of Ellis' body that did not appear injured, including his neck and skull. The lawyers also questioned him about medical records for Ellis he reviewed before going to the scene and what information he received from law enforcement.
Atzet testified Wednesday afternoon that law enforcement often provides death investigators with the only source of information about what happened to the deceased before they arrive. In this case, Atzet said dispatchers with South Sound 911 informed him of the death, and a Pierce County Sheriff’s Department detective told him a struggle occurred between police and the deceased person after the man started hitting their patrol car, and he had to be restrained.
Brett Purtzer, an attorney for Burbank, asked Atzet on Thursday what medical records showed about Ellis' background. Atzet agreed there were medical diagnoses associated with his heart, and the records showed he had been diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, asthma, pneumonia, and he had a history of intravenous drug use and meth abuse.
Atzet said the records also documented a 2019 incident that described Ellis assaulting staff at a restaurant before staff fought him off, and he was noted to resist arrest when law enforcement confronted him.
Asked whether marks on Ellis’ wrists and legs from his handcuffs and hobble were consistent with a person fighting against the restraints, Atzet said he couldn’t make a determination about that. Purtzer also asked whether he recalled seeing a smudge on the patrol car’s passenger window.
“I don’t recall seeing anything on the window,” Atzet said.
Attorneys for the officers have maintained that Ellis attacked Burbank and Collins’ patrol car, prompting Burbank to swing his door into Ellis to stop him, kicking off the fatal encounter. Ellis was carrying raspberry-filled powdered donuts and a jug of water when he was walking home, and the defense has claimed Ellis got powder on the police cruiser when he punched its window.
Purtzer showed Atzet a photo of a white substance on the patrol car’s window, and the death investigator said he didn’t recognize it.
Before noon, prosecutors called Dr. Roger Mitchell, a forensic pathology expert, to the witness stand. His testimony is expected to continue Thursday afternoon.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Pierce County death investigator continues testimony
Jacob Atzet, a death investigator with the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, who responded to the scene the night Manuel Ellis died in custody of Tacoma police returned to the stand Thursday morning.
Assistant Attorney General Lori Nicolavo questioned Atzet for the prosecution, including reviewing photos and physical evidence from the scene. The defense began its cross-examination shortly after 10 a.m.
The state is expected to call Dr. Robert Mitchell, a forensic pathologist and former Washington D.C. Chief Medical Examiner, to testify next. Mitchell testified as a medical expert last week in the trial of two Colorado police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain.
McDowell questioned about broken phone, death investigator takes the stand
A death investigator with the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office who responded to the scene the night Manuel Ellis died in custody of Tacoma police testified for prosecutors Wednesday afternoon.
Jacob Atzet testified to the evidence he recorded when he arrived at the corner of 96th and Ainsworth Avenue shortly after 3 a.m., and he explained the duties of a death investigator, telling jurors they coordinate with law enforcement, take photographs at the scene, write notes, obtain any relevant physical evidence and examine the body before it is transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Ellis, 33, died of oxygen deprivation from physical restraint after encountering police the night of March 3, 2020, the Pierce County medical examiner ruled.
Prosecutors with the Washington Attorney General’s Office have said officers attacked and restrained Ellis without justification. Defense attorneys say the officers were simply responding after Ellis attacked their patrol car, and they have focused on the high amount of methamphetamine in his system as another explanation for his death.
Answering questions from Assistant Attorneys General Lori Nicolavo, Atzet said law enforcement often provides death investigators with the only source of information about what happened to the deceased before they arrive. In this case, Atzet said his notes showed a male attacked a Tacoma Police Department patrol car, that the person did not have a firearm, was handcuffed and was unresponsive.
Whether or not Ellis attacked the officers’ patrol car is a fundamental question in the trial. Attorneys for the officers have claimed it was Ellis punching the vehicle that prompted Burbank to swing his door into Ellis to stop him, kicking off the fatal encounter. Two eyewitnesses have so far disputed that story in their testimony, characterizing the police as the first aggressors.
Earlier in the afternoon, during a redirect examination of one of those witnesses, Sara McDowell, prosecutors tried to convince jurors there was nothing nefarious about the fact that the phone she used to record part of Ellis’ fatal interaction with police broke months after his death.
The line of questioning came after defense attorneys for the officers spent the morning questioning the credibility and memory of McDowell. At the prompting of prosecutors, she read text messages sent to Ellis’ sister in June 2020 stating her phone had broken, and she told jurors she didn’t intentionally break it, and that no one had directed her to do so.
McDowell said she didn’t remember how the phone was broken.
Special Assistant Attorneys General Patty Eakes also asked McDowell why she gave interviews to news outlets about Ellis’ death.
“Because what I had seen wasn’t OK, and I wanted my truth to get out there,” McDowell said. “I wanted the Ellis family to get answers.”
Testimony is scheduled to resume in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday, when prosecutors' direct examination of the death investigator is expected to continue.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Defense attorney questions eyewitness' credibility
On Wednesday morning, Jared Ausserer, an attorney for officer Matthew Collins, questioned Sara McDowell’s credibility as a witness by bringing up comments she posted on social media and news sites in which she called for justice for Ellis and said the Tacoma Police Department was filled with murderers who wanted to cover up his death.
The lawyer also pointed out inconsistencies between statements she gave to investigators before the trial began and what she told jurors Tuesday, and he honed in on exactly when McDowell began recording Ellis’ encounter with police.
McDowell, who recorded video of Collins and Burbank roughly handling Ellis, has described the police as the aggressors in her testimony.
Ausserer drew jurors’ attention to an interview McDowell gave to an attorney for Ellis’ family in June 2020, where transcripts show she said it was Burbank who slammed Ellis to the ground, not Collins.
McDowell said it must have been nervousness or confusion that made her mix up the two officers in her interview, and she reaffirmed that what she saw was Burbank punching Ellis after Collins body-slammed him.
A doorbell security video of the street corner where Ellis encountered the officers — 96th Street and Ainsworth Avenue — was at one point played for McDowell. About 17 seconds in, McDowell can be heard yelling from her car “just arrest him,” which is heard in McDowell’s own video shortly after it begins.
Ausserer asked McDowell what she could hear in the 17 seconds before her own video started. She agreed she could hear Ellis struggling with the officers. The attorney then asked what happened before she started recording.
“I don’t know, when I started recording he was getting punched,” McDowell said.
Ausserer’s line of questioning drew jurors’ attention to what McDowell didn’t see. Ellis was walking home after buying raspberry-filled powdered doughnuts and a jug of water at a 7-Eleven, and the defense has claimed Ellis got powder on the police cruiser when he punched its window, prompting Burbank to swing his door into Ellis to stop him.
McDowell has testified she never saw anything in the Ellis' hands, and she agreed she would have seen if Ellis got doughnut powder on the windows.
“I never saw him put his hands up to the car or anything,” McDowell said.
Special Assistant Attorneys General Patty Eakes’ redirect examination of McDowell is expected to continue Wednesday afternoon.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Defense cross-examines eyewitness Sara McDowell
Court resumed this morning with attorneys for the defense cross-examining Sara McDowell, an eyewitness who captured cell phone video the night Manuel Ellis died.
McDowell also testified yesterday, along with her former boyfriend Keyon Lowery. They were in separate cars stopped behind a Tacoma police SUV. They both testified that Ellis appeared to be talking casually with the officers when all of a sudden Officer Christopher Burbank threw open the passenger door, knocking Ellis to the ground.
They said Burbank got on top of Ellis and punched him and Ellis didn’t fight back. Before Burbank threw any punches, McDowell said Officer Matthew Collins body-slammed Ellis on the pavement.
McDowell also recorded two videos. She testified Tuesday about sharing the footage with Ellis’ family months later when she came across a news article that conflicted with what she saw.
Defense attorneys repeatedly questioned these witnesses’ memories of the incident and pointed out inconsistencies from past statements. On the stand Tuesday, they were both adamant that their testimony was the truth. Officer Timothy Rankine's defense team noted that he didn’t arrive as back-up until later.
Watch the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Eyewitness who recorded video of the officers and Ellis testifies
Sara McDowell, who recorded video of the officers roughly handling Ellis, and Keyon Lowery, McDowell’s former boyfriend testified on Tuesday.
They described the officers as the aggressors, contradicting what the officers told detectives and dashing the defense claim that nobody had seen how the fatal interaction began.
“When I saw Manuel not doing anything, and him get attacked like that, it wasn’t right,” McDowell, 26, testified. “I’d never seen police do anything like that. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It was scary. It wasn’t okay.”
Officers Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38, were the first two to encounter Ellis. They are the officers who McDowell and Lowery saw physically engaging with Ellis. Both are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine, 34, arrived at the scene after McDowell and Lowery had already left. He is accused of continuing to sit on Ellis for minutes despite Ellis’ plea that he could not breathe.
Collins, who was driving on the night Ellis died, told detectives within days of Ellis’ death that the physical altercation began when Ellis charged at him, hoisted him into the air and caused him to land on his back. Burbank told detectives a different story. He said when Ellis assumed an aggressive stance toward Collins, Burbank slammed the door into Ellis.
McDowell and Lowery contradicted the officers’ stories with virtually identical accounts. They said Ellis was casually walking away from the police cruiser when it appeared someone inside the police cruiser called him over to talk. As he was near the passenger door, it swung open and knocked Ellis to his knees. That’s when McDowell started recording video.
It showed what McDowell described: The officer from the passenger’s seat, Burbank, was on top of Ellis and striking him with closed fists, and, Collins, the driver, joined by lifting Ellis and slamming him to the ground.
“[The officers] were in the wrong,” Lowery said.
“Manuel Ellis wasn’t doing anything” to provoke the officers’ violence, McDowell said.
Burbank’s lawyer, Brett Purtzer, cross-examined McDowell about an online spat she’d had with a supporter of the officers in which McDowell wrote that she was “lying” to testify against the officers. McDowell said that was a typo, and she intended to write that she was “dying” to tell her story.
Testimony is scheduled to resume in Pierce County Superior Court on Wednesday, when an audio expert for the prosecution and a woman who provided videos of the scene are expected to testify.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Eyewitness testimony contradicts key points of officers' defense
Eyewitness testimony on Tuesday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis starkly contradicted the picture the officers’ lawyers have painted about how their fatal interaction with Ellis began.
Keyon Lowery, a 26-year-old deli worker, described his reaction to what he saw Tacoma police do as “disbelief,” because based on what he saw, he believed the officers “were in the wrong.”
“I felt I needed to help him, Manuel Ellis, because the activity I was seeing wasn’t something I’ve seen cops do,” Lowery said.
Casey Arbenz, one of Collins’ lawyers, characterized Lowery and his former girlfriend Sara McDowell, who recorded cellphone video of the officers and Ellis, as “arguably the state’s most significant witnesses” during Tuesday’s proceedings. That’s because they alone claim to have seen how the physical confrontation between Ellis and the officers began.
That has been a central point of the officers’ defense, particularly for Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, who were the first officers to encounter Ellis. Beginning with opening statements and during opportunities throughout the first week of testimony, the officers’ defense teams have emphasized the absence of video footage showing how the struggle began.
In statements to Pierce County sheriff’s detectives, weeks before it was known that video of the incident existed, Collins claimed that Ellis had attacked him by hurling him through the air to land on his back. Burbank contradicted that, and said he slammed a police cruiser door into Ellis, knocking him to the ground, because he feared that Ellis might turn aggressive toward Collins. Though far apart in terms of details, the tenor of the officers’ statements was the same – that Ellis had acted aggressively toward them, justifying the force that was used against him.
Lowery, who was driving in convoy behind Sara McDowell on the night Ellis died, said Ellis was walking away from the police cruiser. Collins was the driver and Burbank was his passenger, police records show. Ellis walked back to the cruiser “like someone got his attention,” and as he approached it, the passenger’s door swung open, knocking Ellis to the ground, Lowery testified.
“He never really made it to the car,” Lowery said. Burbank was almost instantly on top of Ellis and swung up to three times to punch Ellis, according to Lowery. Collins exited the driver’s side of the vehicle and jogged over to Ellis, then took control of his legs, Lowery testified.
As Lowery left the scene, he said it appeared the officers had apprehended Ellis and were in control of him. Lowery said Ellis never acted aggressively toward the officers nor fought back, and was “no threat at all, none.”
McDowell is expected to testify Tuesday afternoon.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Civilian eyewitness takes the stand
Keyon Lowery, an eyewitness, took the stand Tuesday morning. Lowery is one of several civilians who witnessed Ellis' encounter with Tacoma police officers on the night he died.
Sara McDowell, an eyewitness who took cell phone video, is also expected testify.
Watch the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Ellis' family reports two instances of perceived 'witness intimidation'
The family of Manuel Ellis reported two instances of perceived “witness intimidation” that occurred over the weekend while the trial of the three Tacoma police officers charged in Ellis’ killing was in recess.
Ellis' mother Marcia Carter-Patterson told The Seattle Times that an "air tag" tracking device fell from her car on Friday. On Saturday a relative found Carter-Patterson’s car with two slashed tires. The Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine, collected the tracking device.
Carter-Patterson testified in the trial on Monday morning. Ellis' sister, Monét Carter-Mixon, testified last week.
Witness who provided key cell-phone video expected to testify
On Monday, jurors heard testimony from Manuel Ellis' mother and a crime-scene re-creation specialist.
The specialist, David C. Wells, is a retired King County Sheriff’s deputy who runs a crime-scene re-creation consultancy. He testified for approximately four hours, primarily about the vantage points of three eyewitnesses who recorded cell phone videos of the scene on the night Ellis died.
Testimony resumes this morning at 9 a.m. Sara McDowell, one of the witnesses who recorded cell-phone video of the officers violently restraining Ellis, is expected to testify.
Includes pool reporting provided by The Seattle Times.
In their testimony, Ellis' family describes a man who 'turned a corner'
Manuel Ellis' mother, Marcia Carter-Patterson, described for jurors her final conversation with her son, a video call on March 3, 2020, less than two hours before he died.
“His happiness shone, that was for sure,” Carter-Patterson said. “That was the unusual part. He was very gregarious that night and more at peace.”
Carter-Patterson called Ellis “the glue” of her family. He was the middle child, with an older brother and a younger sister. Ellis struggled with mental illness and addiction. He tended to avoid his mother when he was under the influence of drugs, Carter-Patterson said.
But in the final months of his life, when he moved into a sober living home following his arrest for attempted-robbery, Ellis called often, including on that last night of his life. “He looked good. He looked happy…,” Carter-Patterson said. “That was the night he said, ‘Mom, I really want to give my life to the Lord. I’m tired of the lies. I want to be here for my family. I want my life to change and I want to give it to Jesus Christ.”
On Thursday, Ellis’s sister, Monét Carter-Mixon, also testified that Ellis had turned a corner while staying in the sober living home. That’s where he was walking after picking up a snack of raspberry-filled powdered donuts and a jug of water, when he was confronted by officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank.
Carter-Patterson learned of her son’s death from the medical examiner’s office the next morning.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she testified. “I lost it because I didn’t think that it was true.”
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Ellis' mother shares details of phone call from the night he died
Marcia Carter-Patterson testified Monday morning in the trial of the three Tacoma officers accused of killing her son, Manuel Ellis.
Carter-Patterson took the stand wearing a bright yellow outfit, representing the yellow pants Ellis was wearing the night he died. Attorneys questioned her about their relationship. She said Ellis' nickname for her was "Madre," and that he was the glue that held their family together.
"Manny loved his family," Carter-Patterson said. "He was very very close to all of us."
Attorneys also asked her what she knew of his drug use. Carter-Patterson said she never saw that side of him.
"If Manny was under any kind of influence, if he was drinking or whatever, I didn't talk to Manny during that time. I only talked to him when Manny was clean and sober. He didn't talk to me otherwise," she said.
Carter-Patterson said she was the last person to speak to Ellis the night he died. They talked on a FaceTime video call before he left his home to go to the 7-Eleven. She said he looked happy, peaceful and they talked for 15 minutes about his church life.
"And the last words he uttered to me was 'Mom, remember how much I love you.' That was the last words my son said to me," she said.
The prosecution also called an expert to reconstruct the crime scene.
Ellis' mother testifies, crime scene reconstruction expert takes the stand
Court resumed this morning with testimony from Manuel Ellis' mother Marcia Carter-Patterson.
After her testimony, the prosecution called David Wells, a crime scene reconstruction expert to testify.
Watch the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Ellis’ family members and supporters discuss toll of the trial. Ellis’ mother expected to testify next week
After the first week of witness testimony, members of Manuel Ellis’ family and their supporters told reporters at a press conference Thursday about the toll the trial is taking.
“We're breaking down on our way to the courthouse. We're breaking down when we get home. It's not okay,” said Na’Quel Walker, a supporter.
Monèt Carter-Mixon, who had just completed her testimony an hour before, said her family is experiencing differential treatment and a lack of advocacy compared to the defendant officers. She and three of her children, one of whom is being homeschooled, and sometimes her mother as well, have waited in a so-called lactation room since jury selection until Carter-Mixon could testify. Even being asked to testify at all felt unfair, she said.
“I wasn't there. I, never in my life, have known or heard about a murder victims’ sibling or mother having to testify,” Carter-Mixon said. “It's not my fault that what came out, and what unfolded, unfolded in the way that it did. And it's not my fault that they chose to cover it up … The treatment has been unfair and I know it's not the same treatment that these officers and their families have been receiving.”
Jamika Scott with the Tacoma Action Collective asked the community to continue to show up and pay attention to the trial. She said the case has changed the lives of everyone involved.
“Monèt has had to leave the community that she's grown up in,” Scott said. “We have to drive around this community differently because the choice we made to stand up for what we know to be right is seen as political, as dangerous, as wrong."
“This isn’t about whether or not you hate the cops, this is about right and wrong,” Scott said. “Right now, what we fear is that not only the people who are tasked with protecting and keeping our community safe are going to harm us unjustly, but also, if that happens, there's nobody out there, if not for our own family, that would stand up for us and say ‘that's wrong.’”
Witness testimony will continue Monday. Marcia Carter-Patterson, Ellis’ mother, is expected to testify Monday morning.
Ellis' sister tells jurors about her relationship with her brother, how she obtained video evidence
The sister of Manuel Ellis, the man three Tacoma police officers are charged with killing, testified Thursday afternoon, telling jurors about the close relationship she and her brother had and how she obtained video from the night he died.
“He was my best friend. He was my person,” Monét Carter-Mixon said of her brother, Manuel Ellis. “When I needed him, he was always there for me.”
Ellis, 33, died of oxygen deprivation after encountering police the night of March 3, 2020, the Pierce County medical examiner ruled. Prosecutors with the Washington Attorney General’s Office have said officers attacked and restrained him without justification. Defense attorneys say the officers were simply responding after Ellis attacked their patrol car, and they have focused on the high amount of methamphetamine as another explanation for his death.
Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38 and Timothy Rankine, 34, remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave while they’re on trial. Collins and Burbank are charged with second-degree murder; all three officers are charged with first-degree manslaughter. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Carter-Mixon took the stand with the assistance of a walker, telling jurors she recently suffered a traumatic childbirth injury she’s still recovering from. The woman said she and Ellis grew up with their mother and father in Lakewood and Central Tacoma. As she testified, a photo of her brother was shown on courtroom televisions.
Answering questions from special assistant attorney general Patty Eakes, Carter-Mixon, 32, told jurors about the last time she heard her brother’s voice and how she learned of his death. Ellis video-called their mother the night of March 3 after he went to a church revival, Carter-Mixon said. She overheard the conversation from another room.
“He sounded really happy and, like, upbeat,” Carter-Mixon said.
The next morning, she noticed a missed video call from Ellis that was timestamped 9:56 p.m the previous night.
Carter-Mixon said she was working that morning when someone at the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office called her and left a voicemail. The person told her that her brother’s body was at the office.
Asked what she did next, Ellis’ sister said she searched online for anything about a Black man being killed in Tacoma. Soon she was on a Facebook page that Carter-Mixon said posts about local crime, where she found information about her brother’s death. Carter-Mixon testified that she then called a woman who helped run the clean-and-sober home where Ellis was living before he died, and she went to the 7-Eleven that she knew Ellis frequented to speak with store clerks.
Carter-Mixon posted about Ellis’ death on social media in the hopes that someone would come forward with more information. Months later, she testified, she received a Facebook message from Sara McDowell.
The woman told her she was there the night Ellis died, and she had been driving home when she ended up behind the officers’ patrol car. McDowell said she had information and video for Carter-Mixon. Ellis’ sister read the next message.
“You’re really gonna want the video, the information the cops gave and that is everywhere is a lie,” Carter-Mixon read.
Eakes and attorneys for the three officers also questioned Carter-Mixon about Ellis’ mental health and struggles with drug addiction. The woman said Ellis was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia in his late 20s or early 30s, and he became addicted to methamphetamine in his early 20s.
Answering questions from Eakes, Carter-Mixon testified that Ellis was living with her in late 2019 and helped take care of her children, frequently making breakfast for them or walking to the store to get supplies. Carter-Mixon said it was their routine for her to drop Ellis off at appointments with Pierce County Alliance and with a psychiatrist for Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare, where he was receiving help for his mental health and drug addiction.
In the days after Christmas that year, Carter-Mixon, said the mother of Ellis’ child told her Ellis had relapsed, so she told Ellis he couldn’t live with her, and he needed to move into a clean-and-sober house.
Casey Arbenz, an attorney for Collins, later questioned Carter-Mixon, asking her how symptoms of his depression or schizophrenia manifested. Carter-Mixon told him Ellis would sometimes ask her if she heard or saw something. She said she would tell him she didn’t, and he needed to see a doctor. Arbenz asked what Ellis was like when he was high on meth.
“When he was high he was very down, very depressed, very emotional,” Carter-Mixon said. “He would cry a lot. In a way I think he was embarrassed he had to resort to using drugs to suppress how he was feeling”
In re-direct examination, Eakes asked Carter-Mixon why she would allow Ellis to be near her children while he was still struggling with drug addiction. The woman said she wasn’t concerned about Ellis' behavior around her children.
“He was actually a joy to be around,” Carter-Mixon said.
Brett Purtzer, an attorney for Burbank, was one of the last attorneys to question Carter-Mixon about Ellis’ drug use and health. The woman said she wasn’t worried about Ellis overdosing on meth, but she was worried about dangers he could face buying the drug. Purtzer asked if she was concerned about her brother’s overall health. Carter-Mixon said no, and, asked if Ellis had a bad heart, the witness said she wasn’t aware he did.
Carter-Mixon was excused at the end of Thursday, completing her testimony. Ellis' mother, Marcia Carter-Patterson, is scheduled to testify Monday for the prosecution.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Ellis' sister Monèt Carter-Mixon takes the stand
Monèt Carter-Mixon, Ellis' younger sister, took the stand this afternoon to testify.
Carter-Mixon, undertook her own investigation into her brother's death. She uncovered witness videos that showed parts of Ellis' interaction with Tacoma police officers on March 3, 2020.
Carter-Mixon's testimony will continue after a short break. A livestream is available on the Pierce County website and KING5.
Defense attorneys cross-examine prosecutors’ forensic video expert
Attorneys for officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins pressed forensic video expert Grant Fredericks on how Manuel Ellis’ reacted in the seconds before he was first shocked with a Taser, and they questioned him about what can be heard in video of Ellis’ encounter with the officers.
After prosecutors on Wednesday elicited testimony from Fredericks saying Ellis had his hands in the air before Burbank shot his Taser at him, Wayne Fricke, an attorney for the officer, asked Fredericks if a single frame showing Ellis in that position could be misleading.
“It means nothing unless you have it in context,” Fricke said while he asked the question.
The expert witness disagreed, telling jurors there were two times where Ellis raised his hands, palms out, in front of his body. Fricke went on to ask Fredericks when Ellis put his hands down, and how much time passed until the first Taser was shot. Fredericks said it was 3.3 seconds.
“Almost simultaneously,” Fricke said.
“3.3 seconds,” Fredericks replied.
Burbank whispered to Fricke and patted him on the back after questioning Fredericks.
Jared Ausserer, an attorney for Collins, questioned Fredericks next, asking him if he could hear someone growl and say, “Try it again,” before Burbank shocked Ellis with a Taser a second time, which was shown in a delivery driver’s eyewitness video of the incident. The expert witness said he didn’t know if he’d characterize the sound as a growl and wasn’t sure what was said.
“I heard the word 'try,'” Fredericks said. “But is he saying, ‘I’m trying,’ or ‘Try it again,’ I don’t know.”
In his questioning, Ausserer also asserted that Ellis never put his hands behind his back during the struggle.
"That's not correct," Frederick testified. "He raised his head, pulled his hand out from under his chest, put his hand behind his back. Officer Burbank, reached down, picked up his hand, and then he had control."
Earlier in the morning, Fricke questioned Fredericks about a 27-minute gap in doorbell security video of the street corner where Ellis encountered the officers — 96th Street and Ainsworth Avenue in Tacoma — and his methodology for determining a timeline of the events that occurred that night.
Defense attorneys played the first clip from that doorbell video for jurors, which showed a quiet street and a few cars driving by. Fredericks agreed with Fricke that 27 minutes passed until the doorbell started recording again and showed officers’ patrol cars and other witnesses already on the scene. Fricke said that means no video shows Ellis walking down the street or Collins' and Burbank’s initial encounter with him. Fredericks agreed.
Prosecutors will continue to question Fredericks on Thursday afternoon in re-direct examination. Ellis' sister and mother, Monét Carter-Mixon and Marcia Carter-Patterson, are scheduled to testify next for the prosecution.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune. Additional reporting by Jared Brown, KNKX.
Forensic video analyst testimony continues this morning
Court will resume at 9 a.m. this morning with testimony from forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks.
Attorneys spent Wednesday pouring over witness video analyzed by Fredericks.
Ellis' sister and mother, Monét Carter-Mixon and Marcia Carter-Patterson, are expected to testify after Fredericks.
Watch the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
Prosecution shows jury first footage of officers struggling with Ellis
Attorneys spent the day poring over witness video of Tacoma Police Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank struggling with Manny Ellis in excruciating detail.
A relative of Ellis cried out in court when his screams from electricity pulsing through his body played.
Recorded by a pizza delivery driver, the video was the third to emerge showing the lead-up to Ellis’ death on March 3, 2020. It was synced with audio from a doorbell camera that captured Ellis pleading with police, “Can’t breathe, sir.”
The first witness video released by Ellis’ family in June 2020 – which put the case in the national spotlight and prompted Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards to call for the officers to be fired – has not yet been played for the jury.
Before playing any tape, forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks and Assistant Attorney General Nicolavo clicked through the pizza delivery driver’s footage frame by frame. Pixel by pixel, Fredericks tracked body movement, hand positioning and the glow of Taser probes.
Family members of people killed by police in Washington filled the back row of the courtroom gallery while Fredericks was on the stand.
Ellis’ hands were up, palms out, as Collins wrapped an arm around his neck and Burbank aimed a Taser at his chest, Fredericks testified. Ellis stopped moving after the Taser shock, and Collins’ knee came down on his head.
Burbank then put out a distress call on the radio, “96th and Ainsworth,” sending back-up to the scene.
Burbank Tasered Ellis a second time after he began moving again. Fredericks testified Ellis’ legs scissored wildly upon the shock and Collins put his knee back on Ellis’ head.
Ellis’ bright yellow sweat pants and reflective white shoes shone brightly against the pavement.
Ellis appeared to lay motionless for about 14 seconds, Fredericks testified. Burbank sent a third shock through Ellis’ body as the pizza delivery driver rolled away from scene.
Judge Bryan Chushcoff called a recess until Thursday morning during defense attorneys’ cross examination of Fredericks. The trial will resume at 9 a.m.
Witness testimony continued Wednesday morning
TACOMA – Witness testimony continued Wednesday morning in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in Pierce County Superior Court with the in-custody death of Manuel Ellis.
Assistant attorney general Lori Nicolavo questioned forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks about how he authenticated the videos of three eyewitnesses and a doorbell security camera, and then showed jurors an image-by-image reproduction of video taken by a delivery driver who happened upon the scene when officers were grappling with Ellis.
Nicolavo repeatedly asked about the locations of Ellis’ hands and the movements of Burbank and Collins while the images were displayed on courtroom televisions. Fredericks noted two occasions when Ellis’ palms were facing the police and above his head, for one second while Collins brought him to the ground and Burbank trained his Taser on him, and again when Burbank shocked Ellis with the device.
Fredericks, a certified forensic video analyst for a company in Spokane, according to court records, testified that he magnified and stabilized the video to focus on the movement of Ellis’ hands and the bodies of the officers. Fredericks said it also helped him see the Taser activations.
Earlier in the morning, Fredericks testified about how he analyzed data from Ellis’ purchase at the 7-Eleven he walked to before his encounter with the officers, police dispatch information and data from the Taser that Burbank used on Ellis to determine the timing of events in this case.
Answering questions from Nicolavo, Fredericks said Ellis made a transaction at 11:11 p.m. at the convenience store, and it would have taken 10 minutes to get to the intersection of 96th Street and Ainsworth Avenue, where he met the officers.
Meanwhile, Burbank and Collins were working a traffic stop, Nicolavo said. Fredericks said based on police dispatch and his analysis, that call was cleared less than two minutes before doorbell security video began recording the officers’ encounter with Ellis.
Nicolavo also asked the analyst when Burbank shocked Ellis with a Taser. Fredericks said the first activation was at 11:22 p.m. and 11 seconds, and the second and third activations occurred seconds later. He said 53 seconds passed between the first and last shock.
Ellis’ sister and mother, Monét Carter-Mixon and Marcia Carter-Patterson, are expected to testify Wednesday afternoon.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The News Tribune.
Catch up on opening statements, link to livestream
Watch the courtroom livestream on the Pierce County website.
'They're putting my brother on trial' Ellis' sister waits but can't watch
While attorneys delivered opening statements in the trial of the three Tacoma Police officers charged in the killing of Manny Ellis, his sister Monèt Carter-Mixon sat outside the courtroom.
The third floor hallway was mostly empty. Everyone else was inside listening to opening statements. Interviews aren’t allowed here.
But the day before, Carter-Mixon told KNKX how frustrating it is not to be allowed in the courtroom.
“I know that they’re putting my brother on trial, not those officers who should be the one’s on trial.”
She can't watch the trial live. She could be called as a witness by both sides because she helped uncover witness video used to charge the officers.
She still tries to get as close as possible, every day since jury selection started two weeks ago. Be it the hallway right outside, or a tiny windowless lactation room where she and three of her seven children sit all day — she waits.
“This is like my form of protest. Just because like they're always trying to shut me out. They as in, like, the defense, the City. Sometimes even the prosecution. They're trying to shut me out or shut me up. But they can't,” she said.
Carter-Mixon is scheduled to testify for the prosecution Wednesday afternoon, but she plans to be here regardless. The trial is expected to last three months.
Ellis' sister and mother scheduled to testify Wednesday
Following opening statements, Tuesday ended with testimony from Grant Fredericks, a forensic video analyst for the prosecution. Fredericks testimony will resume Wednesday.
Ellis' sister and mother, Monét Carter-Mixon and Marcia Carter-Patterson, are scheduled to testify Wednesday for the prosecution.
Watch via the Pierce County Superior Court livestream or check back here for updates.
Judge calls recess during first witness’ testimony
Judge Bryan Chushcoff called a recess until morning partway through testimony from forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks.
Fredericks created a composite of three witness’ cell phone videos, a doorbell camera and dispatch recordings. The video was not shown in court on Tuesday.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
Defense attorneys deliver opening statements
Opening statements from defense attorneys focused on the threat Ellis allegedly presented to officers and their claims that he died of a drug overdose.
“He was aggressive, he was violent and he was extremely high on methamphetamine,” said Brett Purtzer, an attorney for Officer Christopher Burbank.
“This was a meth overdose compounded by a bad heart that was enlarged, compromised lungs,” Anne Bremner, an attorney for Officer Timothy Rankine, told the jury.
The attorneys also distanced their clients from the decision by a fourth officer to use a spit hood, which then-Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark said was a key factor in Ellis’ death. Clark also said Ellis could have died of an overdose, despite his ruling that he suffocated.
Bremner said Rankine, who arrived as backup, was trying to overcome Ellis’ “superhuman strength” to get him into restraints.
“He was never up on his neck. He was never in a place where he could restrict the breathing of Manuel Ellis,” Bremner said.
Judge Bryan Chushcoff sustained multiple objections against Bremner by the state after she attempted to claim the prosecution of the officers was politically motivated.
“This is a case that shouldn’t have been brought,” Bremner said before concluding her opening remarks.
Attorneys for Officer Matthew Collins waived their opening statement until after the prosecution rests. Prosecutors have said they expect to put on their case in about four weeks.
Lawyer for defense takes aim at high level of meth in Ellis' system
Lawyers for Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38 and Timothy Rankine, 34, took aim at the high level of methamphetamine found in Manuel Ellis’ system as an alternative explanation for his death.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide. Ellis, 33, died from oxygen depravation, an autopsy showed. He was Tased, choked, struck, handcuffed, hogtied and sat and kneeled on by a series of officers while repeatedly stating that he couldn’t breathe.
Eyewitness videos of the officers struggling with Ellis and a nearby home surveillance camera that captured audio of Ellis’ pleas that he couldn’t breathe are expected to be central to the prosecution’s case.
Burbank’s lawyer, Brett Purtzer, countered that the high level of methamphetamine in Ellis’ system, and not the officers, killed him. He said Ellis was “screaming, violent and extremely high on methamphetamine.” Purtzer said the officers’ actions were justified and they should be found not guilty.
Opening statements will continue Tuesday afternoon, with witness testimony set to follow.
Excerpted from pool report provided by The Seattle Times.
Recent coverage from Washington State Standard, The Seattle Times
The Washington State Standard recently spoke with community leaders, a state lawmaker, a law enforcement officer and others about why this case is important and why people should care, far beyond the city of Tacoma. Read the article.
And The Seattle Times' Patrick Malone reported about how Pierce County prepared for this high-profile trial, including consulting the Minnesota court district where Derek Chauvin was tried and convicted for the murder of George Floyd. Read the article.
Share KNKX's coverage by telling others to visit knkx.org/tpdtrial, which will bring them here to see the latest updates.
Opening statements continue
Assistant Attorney General Kent Liu delivered the prosecution's opening statement to the jury.
After a morning recess, opening statements resumed with Brett Purtzer of Tacoma’s Hester Law Group speaking for the defense.
Watch the trial on the Pierce County Superior Court livestream.
Prosecution delivers opening statement
Assistant Attorney General Kent Liu’s opening statement detailed many of the prosecution’s graphic allegations from court papers while honing in on inconsistencies in the officers’ version of events and attempting to humanize Manny Ellis.
One of the contradictions Liu repeatedly noted was officers describing Ellis making “animalistic noises and growling” despite audio recordings of Ellis saying he couldn’t breathe.
Ellis was “a human being that loved his family. He was flawed. He struggled with addiction,” Liu said. “He was not an animal and he deserved the respect and the care that was not given to him when he died that night at the intersection of 96th and Ainsworth.”
In the hours before officers allegedly attacked, Tasered and hogtied Ellis, Liu said Ellis played the drums at church before calling multiple friends and his mother, then going on a snack run to 7-Eleven.
“We are here today because this should not have happened,” Liu said. “Mr. Ellis did nothing wrong.”
Opening statements delayed by objections to presentation slides
Opening statements from the prosecution and defense were scheduled for first thing Tuesday morning. However, before the attorneys began, they objected to information they saw as “inflammatory” in each other’s presentation slides.
Frustrated by the delay, Judge Bryan Chushcoff told attorneys they could no longer use PowerPoint presentations during opening statements.
Chushcoff previously instructed the attorneys not to use evidence exhibits during their opening statements without the agreement of opposing counsel.
Defense attorneys said they agreed to allow the prosecution to use an aerial photo of the crime scene. But upon review of the presentation on Monday, they said they found photos of Ellis with the words, “I can’t breathe,” information about applicable law in the case and other images.
Attorney General’s Office special prosecutor Patty Eakes responded that the state didn’t intend to instruct the jury on the law and that their presentation used one image of Ellis twice. She said some information in the slide deck came from the Tacoma Police Department manual, not state law.
“I think most of this is problematic,” Chushcoff told Eakes. “You can have your timeline and your aerial photographs.”
He added, “The pictures should go. The use of force slide should go.”
After Chushcoff ruled, Eakes objected to information in the presentation from officer Timothy Rankine’s defense attorneys. Chushcoff said photos of Rankine and an uncharged officer, transcripts of radio traffic and part of a statement from former Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark were improper.
About three dozen people, including relatives of Ellis and the officers, listened from the court room gallery. The jury remained out of the courtroom.
Trial live stream now available
Live streamed courtroom proceedings are now available through the Pierce County website. Court is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.
Jurors are not show on camera. There may be images, video or audio shared that some viewers may find disturbing so viewer discretion is advised.
A limited number of seats are available for in-person viewing. Visit piercecountywa.gov/trial for more information.
Defense attorneys want to dig into Manny Ellis’ past, judge allows some leeway
Attorneys are generally barred from introducing individual’s prior “bad acts” as improper character evidence at trials. But the question of how Manny Ellis’ struggle with Tacoma police on March 3, 2020, began is big enough that Judge Bryan Chushcoff is allowing defense attorneys some leeway when it comes to the victim in this case.
Attorneys can’t discuss prior misconduct allegations against the charged officers, Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Chushcoff ruled that attorneys are prohibited from going into the specifics of Ellis’ history with drug addiction, mental health treatment and law enforcement contacts. They can only discuss generally how his mental illness and drug use may have affected his behavior and physical health the night he died, save for two of Ellis’ arrests that involved methamphetamine use and struggling with law enforcement.
Prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office vigorously opposed defense attorneys’ motions to include testimony about the arrests in September 2019 and several years earlier in September 2015.
The 2019 case involved Pierce County deputies responding to reports that Ellis was robbing an A&W restaurant, according to court papers. When deputies arrived, Ellis was naked in the street and they ordered him onto the ground. The deputies Tasered and restrained Ellis when he got up and ran toward them. Ellis later told a mental health provider he was in a “meth psychosis.”
Prosecutors said in court that the deputies involved recently told defense attorneys that Ellis had “superhuman strength,” which was not in their initial reports.
The 2015 case involved a domestic dispute where he bit a former girlfriend who also reported biting Ellis, according to court papers. Ellis later got into a patrol car “without incident” but deputies pulled him out when they noticed he was grabbing for a syringe in his pocket. Deputies struggled with Ellis to get him into restraints, and the syringe field tested positive for meth.
Prosecutors wrote in courts papers that they wanted to avoid mini trials about the arrests, which “would, in effect, make this case about the character of the victim, Manuel Ellis, rather than about the conduct of the defendants on the night that Mr. Ellis died.”
Chushcoff disagreed, ruling the incidents could help point to a motive for Ellis allegedly attacking the Tacoma officers in March 2020 and show how he may have acted on methamphetamine if he was in psychosis. He told defense attorneys they can’t talk about the specifics of Ellis’ criminal charges or compare the level of force needed to restrain him to March 2020.
Ellis’ sister, Monét Carter-Mixon, told KNKX in August that she thinks the details of the previous arrests could be helpful to the prosecution’s case.
“In my eyes, those officers handled their interaction with a person that was high on meth appropriately,” Carter-Mixon said. “And he was still treated with more dignity and more respect than what my brother was given the night he was killed.”
Here’s what we know about the final 12 jurors, 4 alternates
A jury was seated Monday in the trial of Tacoma Police Officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine.
The officers are charged with killing Manny Ellis, a Black man, in March 2020. Collins and Burbank, who are white, and Rankine, who is Asian American, have pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges.
Over the past two weeks, attorneys intensively questioned more than 130 people about their views on race, policing and social movements.
Race has been a central question in the case, drawing comparisons to the death of George Floyd. During jury selection, prosecutors told the judge they were concerned about the jury pool's lack of racial diversity.
Here's what we know about the jurors, and their apparent race, from the jury selection process.
The 12 jurors include:
- White man who is retired. He worked as an animal control officer for three decades and served in the Navy for more than four years.
- Asian American man who works in finance and wealth management.
- Black man who previously worked as a loss prevention officer in Tacoma’s Hilltop.
- White woman.
- White man who works in aerospace.
- White woman who is in executive leadership at her company.
- White woman who works as an accounting supervisor for a health care company.
- White man who works as a teacher for a small private school.
- White man who is a construction manager, electrician and military veteran.
- Black woman who works as a pharmacy technician. Her husband is a pastor in Tacoma.
- White man who was a former U.S. Army scout stationed in Korea.
- White man who avoids the news and doesn’t support Black Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter movements.
The four alternate jurors are:
- A multiracial woman who works as a minister in Graham and generally supports police.
- A white woman who was called to jury duty for the first time on this case.
- White man who at one time wanted to be a police officer but wanted to make more money.
- A white man who works as a civilian family medicine doctor and trains residents at Madigan Army Medical Center.
The officers are accused of unlawfully beating, Tasering, choking and restraining Ellis to the point he suffocated. Defense attorneys say Ellis attacked the officers and died of a drug overdose.
During the trial, jurors can't discuss the trial with anyone, watch the news or go on social media.
Opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday morning. The trial is projected to run into December.
The jury is seated
The jury has been seated in the trial of the Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis in March 2020.
The 12 jurors include eight men and four women, nine appear to be white. Two appear to be Black, and one appears to be Asian American.
Their professions range from finance and construction to accounting and aerospace, three have prior military experience.
Two women and two men will serve as alternates.
What to expect this week
Attorneys are set to pick a jury on Monday in the trial of the Tacoma police officers charged with killing Manny Ellis in March 2020.
Over the past two weeks, attorneys questioned more than 130 potential jurors about their views on law enforcement and racism, as well as their opinions on the case, which has culminated in one of the most high-profile trials in state history.
Some in the jury pool have followed the case for the three and a half years since Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died on a South-End street corner. A few attended racial justice protests with crowds shouting his name but most jurors knew very little, and many were hearing about it for the first time.
Officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine are expected to face their jury of 12 peers for the first time this week.
And in eight to ten weeks, that jury will decide whether the officers walk free, because they were doing their jobs when they forced Ellis into hogtie restraints with punches and shocks from a Taser, or go to prison on murder and manslaughter charges for suffocating Ellis after an excessively brutal struggle.
Opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday.