Defense attorneys’ last-ditch effort to stave off the impending trial for two of the three Tacoma police officers accused of killing Manuel Ellis in 2020 failed on Friday afternoon.
In a late August motion to dismiss second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges against Officers Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38, their attorneys maintained that Ellis died from a methamphetamine overdose, but effectively blamed officers responding as backup for the tactics that allegedly killed the 33 year-old Tacoma native.
The ruling on Friday by Pierce County Superior Judge Bryan Chushcoff cleared the way for Collins, Burbank and Timothy Rankine, 34, to stand trial after jury selection begins on Sept. 18. Rankine faces one count of first-degree manslaughter.
Charging documents allege Collins and Burbank punched, choked, Tasered Ellis, before hogtying him with the help of other responding law enforcement on a Tacoma street corner on March 3, 2020.
Collins and Burbank stepped away from Ellis once other officers arrived to help, according to witness video and interviews with other responding law enforcement. Rankine kept his body weight on Ellis’ back while paramedics were en route despite Ellis’ repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe.
Former Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark ruled Ellis died of hypoxia due to police restraints and opined the mucus-coated spit hood over his head was possibly the biggest factor impeding his breathing.
Tacoma officer Armando Farinas told internal investigators that he volunteered to place the spit hood on Ellis’ head because he was spitting blood. The state Attorney General’s Office did not charge him, and he was later cleared of wrongdoing by the Tacoma Police Department.
Collins, Burbank and Rankine went on paid leave in June 2020, and have earned about $1 million combined since then, records show. Police Chief Avery Moore, who has led the department since January 2022, has said the internal investigation of the officers was on hold pending their trial.
