A Washington jury acquitted three state police officers of all criminal charges in connection with the 2020 high-profile death of Manuel ‘Manny’ Ellis on Thursday, according to The Associated Press (AP).
State officers Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher Burbank, 38, and Timothy Rankine, 34, were charged in May 2021 after an altercation between Ellis and the officers had occurred during an arrest in March 2020, according to CNN. Following Ellis’ death, the three officers were criminally charged by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson who claimed they had used unlawful force against Ellis, the outlet reported.
Collins and Burbank were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, along with Rankine who solely was given manslaughter charges, according to AP News. (RELATED: ‘Shut Your B*tch A*s Up’: Video Shows Female Cop Tasing Handcuffed Black Suspect)
On March 3, 2020, Ellis had reportedly been walking home from a 7-Eleven store in Tacoma, Washington, passing a police car containing Collins and Burbank who were stopped at a red light, AP News reported. Officers alleged that after Ellis had attempted to open a car door at the intersection, he had become aggressive when confronted about the incident, according to the outlet.
The confrontation eventually led to an altercation between the three, with Ellis being reportedly tased by Burbank and Collins subduing him to the ground, AP News reported. Rankine had responded to the incident, arriving on scene to help place Ellis face-down on the ground in handcuffs, kneeling on his upper-back, the outlet reported.
Video footage of the incident allegedly showed the altercation with Ellis and the officers, in which he could be heard stating that he could not breathe, according to KNKX. Ellis later died in police custody, following a request for medical aid from the officers.
Trigger Warning: Fatal Police Brutality
Video of Manuel Ellis being beaten and tased by Tacoma Police. (1/2)#JusticeForManuelEllis pic.twitter.com/cfVrNZ89ZL— Tacoma Action Collective (@tacoma_action) June 4, 2020
While prosecutors blamed the officers for Ellis’ death, the defendant’s attorneys had argued that he instead died from a lethal amount of methamphetamine in his system, and a pre-existing heart condition, AP News reported.
Following the verdict Collins attorney Casey Arbenz told The Seattle Times that it was not only a “huge sigh of relief,” but emphasized that the officers “should never have been charged.”
However, Ellis’ family lawyer Matthew Ericksen stated that the defense was “allowed” to put Ellis “on trial” by bringing up his past. (RELATED: New Video ‘Justifies’ Police Accused Of Brutality Slamming Woman Into Ground, Lawyer Says)
“The biggest reason why I personally think this jury found reasonable doubt is because the defense was essentially allowed to put Manny Ellis on trial,” Ericksen told AP News. “The defense attorneys were allowed to dredge up Manny’s past and repeat to the jury again and again Manny’s prior arrests in 2015 and 2019. That unfairly prejudiced jurors against Manny.”
An internal police department investigation of the officers is still ongoing, with the city of Tacoma stating that the verdict will not have an effect, according to AP News.
“I share the depth of emotion that many of you are experiencing right now,” Mayor Victoria Woodards stated following the verdict. “I personally commit, along with every member of your City Council and with our city manager and our police chief, to a just, transparent and safer Tacoma for all of our residents.”