Jury in Tacoma police trial sends out two questions during first day of deliberations
Jurors completed their first day of deliberations Thursday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of an unarmed Black man in their custody.
A jury panel of seven men and five women deliberated for about three hours after discussions began sometime after 11:20 a.m. They are tasked with deciding whether officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank are guilty of murder or manslaughter for the March 3, 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, and whether officer Timothy Rankine is guilty of manslaughter.
Court convened in the afternoon for a half-hour to address two questions from the jury. The first referred to jury instruction 11, which Judge Bryan Chushcoff said describes the assault of another by strangulation. The question: “Is strangulation by accident assault?”
The answer was no. Chushcoff wrote to the jurors that an assault is an intentional act with unlawful force, and he directed them to a relevant jury instruction.
Ellis, 33, died after a struggle with police where he was beaten and pressed to the street on his stomach with all of his limbs tied behind his back. A series of officers put their weight on him, and Ellis’ last words were, “I can’t breathe.”
The former Pierce County medical examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide caused by oxygen deprivation from physical restraint. His autopsy report noted Ellis had a methamphetamine concentration of 2400 nanograms per milliliter and an enlarged heart, facts that the defense has continuously pointed to as evidence Ellis’ death was an overdose, not a murder or manslaughter committed by police.
Collins and Burbank, partners who were the first to encounter Ellis at an intersection in Tacoma’s South End, are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Rankine responded as backup minutes after the interaction began. He’s charged with first-degree manslaughter
In this case, the second-degree murder charge means Collins and Burbank are accused of committing unlawful imprisonment, second-degree or third-degree assault and causing Ellis’ death while carrying out those crimes.
Those allegations are related to Collins and Burbank’s initial detainment of Ellis. Prosecutors claim they didn’t have reason to arrest the man, and that Collins use of a headlock called a lateral vascular neck restraint on him constituted second-degree assault, and Burbank’s repeated use of a Taser was third-degree assault.
The manslaughter charges have to do with the subsequent restraint of Ellis, accusing the defendants of acting recklessly by continuing to apply force on the man after he said he couldn’t breathe. Trial evidence showed Ellis said he couldn’t breathe at least five times.
The second question Chushcoff addressed was related to lawful use of force. The question was “Can an action or actions become unlawful at any point during an encounter???”
After conferring with prosecutors from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and defense attorneys, Chushcoff wrote back an answer: “That is possible. When action is lawful is set forth in several of your instructions.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2023 at 4:34 PM.
