Jury deliberating in trial of 3 officers charged in Manuel Ellis' death
A jury is deliberating in the trial of three officers charged in the 2020 death of Manuel "Manny" Ellis while in police custody in Tacoma, Washington.
Christopher Burbank, 38, and Matthew Collins, 40, are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, while Timothy Rankine, 34, is charged with first-degree manslaughter.
All three officers pleaded not guilty but could face a maximum of life in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted, according to the Washington State Legislature.
The jury began their deliberations on Thursday.
Ellis, an unarmed, 33-year-old Black man, died on March 3, 2020, after he was restrained, beaten, tased and put in a spit mask by law enforcement, according to prosecutors. In a video of the encounter, Ellis can be heard pleading to the officers, saying, "Can't breathe, sir, can't breathe."
Special prosecutor Patricia Eakes of Washington's Attorney General's Office relied on eyewitness testimony and video evidence to present the state's closing arguments. Eakes said Ellis didn't have to die that night.
"He was a human who deserved the same dignity that we all do," she said. "He deserved to be treated with basic human dignity."
Eakes compared Ellis to an animal, and describing him as being hogtied with a hobble in her closing arguments caused tension during the court proceedings. A hobble is a restraining device used by police to secure the legs and ankles of a suspect.
Defense attorneys motioned for a dismissal, a mistrial, and objected to her references to Ellis as a human being several times.
The defense attorneys maintained that while the death of Ellis was unfortunate, it wasn't unlawful. Throughout the trial, they presented evidence of Ellis' history of drug addiction and mental health issues as their main defense.
The county medical examiner ruled Ellis' death a homicide due to "hypoxia due to physical restraint," and later found the presence of methamphetamine in Ellis' blood. The examiner said his death was not likely caused by drug intoxication, according to the probable cause statement.
Jared Ausserer, an attorney for Collins, who was first on the scene with Burbank, said during his closing argument there was no doubt that Ellis was a good son, uncle and brother, but added: "When he was sober."
"We know when he was high on meth, he was a different person," Ausserer said.
Wayne Fricke, Burbank's attorney, justified the defendant's use of force and blamed Ellis for his own death. He said Ellis "created his own death," and the use of methamphetamine "caused him to be violent, unpredictable and paranoid."
Rankine, who arrived with a second unit at the scene of the incident, was an officer for 14 months at the time of the incident, according to his attorney Mark Conrad's closing statement. Conrad said he did not have hobble training and followed the superior officer's orders that night.
"Officer Rankine responded to an emergent situation to assist other officers," Anne Bremner, one of Rankine's attorneys, said in a statement to ABC News. "We will ask the jury to not compound the tragedy of Mr. Ellis' death with an unsupported and unjust verdict against Officer Rankine."
The Tacoma police union told ABC News in a previous statement that they maintain their stance on this case, that the charges appear to be a "politically motivated witch hunt."
"We certainly maintain our support for these officers and have not changed our beliefs on why they are charged," Henry Betts, Tacoma Police Union Local #6 president, said.
ABC News reached out to Ausserer and Fricke for statements but did not receive a response.
ABC News' Tesfaye Negussie, Brittany Gaddy, Morgan Windsor and Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
