[20 / 1 / 9]
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/21/us/manuel-ellis-tacoma-police-trial-verdict/index.html
A juryfound Tacoma police officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine not guilty on all charges Thursday in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, a Black man who died in police custody in 2020.
Burbank and Collins were acquitted of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter while Rankine was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter. All three had pleaded not guilty.
They had faced up to life in prison according to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.
The officers were accused of unlawfully using deadly force on Ellis, 33, when attempting to arrest him in March 2020, for allegedly “trying to open car doors of occupied vehicles.” Part of the arrest was caught on video by a witness who testified during the trial. Ellis could also be heard crying, “I can’t breathe,” on police dispatch audio.
His death came months before the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing protest movement against racism and police violence known as Black Lives Matter.
The state’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson charged the officers in May 2021, marking the first time Washington’s attorney general criminally charged officers for the unlawful use of deadly force. It was the second time homicide charges were filed in the state against law enforcement officers since Washingtonians adopted Initiative 940 in November 2018 – a measure making it easier to prosecute police officers for negligent shootings.
According to police, the officers tried to arrest Ellis on March 3, 2020, leading to a physical altercation in which they tackled him and restrained him on the ground.
Parts of the arrest were caught on video by a driver, a nearby doorbell camera as well as police dispatch audio. Ellis repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” according to the prosecution’s statement of probable cause.
A juryfound Tacoma police officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine not guilty on all charges Thursday in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, a Black man who died in police custody in 2020.
Burbank and Collins were acquitted of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter while Rankine was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter. All three had pleaded not guilty.
They had faced up to life in prison according to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.
The officers were accused of unlawfully using deadly force on Ellis, 33, when attempting to arrest him in March 2020, for allegedly “trying to open car doors of occupied vehicles.” Part of the arrest was caught on video by a witness who testified during the trial. Ellis could also be heard crying, “I can’t breathe,” on police dispatch audio.
His death came months before the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing protest movement against racism and police violence known as Black Lives Matter.
The state’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson charged the officers in May 2021, marking the first time Washington’s attorney general criminally charged officers for the unlawful use of deadly force. It was the second time homicide charges were filed in the state against law enforcement officers since Washingtonians adopted Initiative 940 in November 2018 – a measure making it easier to prosecute police officers for negligent shootings.
According to police, the officers tried to arrest Ellis on March 3, 2020, leading to a physical altercation in which they tackled him and restrained him on the ground.
Parts of the arrest were caught on video by a driver, a nearby doorbell camera as well as police dispatch audio. Ellis repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” according to the prosecution’s statement of probable cause.
