Alternate juror seated in Tacoma police trial. Here’s what it means for deliberations

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.

Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died March 3, 2020, after telling police repeatedly that he could not breathe while they struggled in a south Tacoma intersection. The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide caused by lack of oxygen from physical restraint. Lawyers for the officers have offered the theory that the high level of methamphetamine in Ellis’ system and an enlarged heart caused his death.

Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher “Shane” Burbank were the first to encounter Ellis. They told detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department that they saw Ellis reaching for the door of a passing car as it turned in the intersection. When they tried to question him, the officers said he turned aggressive, triggering a struggle that was recorded in part on cellphone video by two witnesses.

Those witnesses testified that Ellis did nothing to provoke the struggle. Ellis was slammed to the ground, punched, struck with elbows, zapped three times with a Taser, placed in a neck hold, handcuffed with his ankles strapped behind his back to his wrists and fitted with a nylon spit hood over his face while multiple officers applied pressured to his back as he lay prone on the pavement.

In statements to detectives and in testimony, the officers described Ellis as extraordinarily strong and said their actions were necessary to gain control of him.

Collins, 40, and Burbank, 38, are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. The jury also has the option to convict them of just the lesser included offense of second-degree manslaughter. Both have denied hearing Ellis say he couldn’t breathe, despite evidence and testimony that called that fact into question.

Officer Timothy Rankine, 35, was in the first car to arrive as backup for Collins and Burbank. He testified to sitting on Ellis’ back even after Ellis said he could not breathe. Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter. The jury also has the option to convict him of second-degree manslaughter.

All three officers have pleaded not guilty, are free on bail and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave.

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.

This story was originally published December 18, 2023 at 12:20 PM.