Tacoma Police Officers Cleared in Death of Manuel Ellis - The New York Times

The officers were charged over the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, who pleaded “I can’t breathe” after police punched and restrained him.

A jury found three Tacoma police officers not guilty on Thursday of all criminal charges in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, a Black man who died in police custody in 2020 after pleading that he could not breathe.

One officer, Timothy Rankine, was acquitted of first-degree manslaughter. The other two officers, Christopher Burbank, and Matthew Collins, were acquitted of charges of second-degree murder. All three had pleaded not guilty and had faced up to life in prison. Officers Burbank, 38, and Collins, 40, are white. Office Rankine, 35, is Asian.

The prosecutors accused the three police officers of using deadly force on Mr. Ellis, 33, while arresting him on Mar. 3, 2020, when they punched him, squeezed his neck, pressed on his back and placed a hood over his head. Prosecutors said that audio footage captured Ellis saying he could not breathe.

His death occurred just three months before George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Mr. Floyd, who is also Black, had also pleaded “I can’t breathe” as a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Bob Ferguson, the Washington attorney general, said in a statement on X, “I know the Ellis family is hurting, and my heart goes out to them.”

Family members said Mr. Ellis was the father of an 11-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter. A musician at his church, he had played drums with the worship band earlier on the night he was killed, the attorney general’s office said.

Later, Mr. Ellis was walking home after getting a late-night snack at a 7-Eleven when he came upon Officers Burbank and Collins sitting in their police car, prosecutors said. Mr. Ellis stopped and spoke briefly to the officers in an encounter that witnesses described as peaceful and respectful, prosecutors said. Mr. Ellis then began to walk away, prosecutors said.

According to witnesses, Officer Burbank swung open the passenger door, hitting Mr. Ellis from behind and knocking him to his knees.

Officer Burbank then got on top of Mr. Ellis, prosecutors said. Bystander videos, a doorbell camera with audio and video, and dispatch radio traffic captured what happened next, prosecutors said.

Officer Burbank wrapped his arms around Mr. Ellis, lifted him into the air and drove him down onto the pavement, hitting him with one of his fists, prosecutors said. Officer Collins then moved toward Mr. Ellis and brought his weight down on him, prosecutors said.

Office Burbank fired a Taser at Mr. Ellis, prosecutors said, and he with Officer Collins held Mr. Ellis’ arms behind his back and pressed down on his body as Mr. Ellis began to scream and writhe. On a nearby doorbell camera, Mr. Ellis is heard saying “Can’t breathe, sir. Can’t breathe!”

Office Rankine, who was among a group of officers who responded as backup, got on top of Mr. Ellis almost as if in a “seated position,” prosecutors said, as Mr. Ellis repeated “I can’t breathe.”

Prosecutors said that Officer Rankine later said that he heard Mr. Ellis say “in a very calm, normal voice” that he could not breathe, to which he responded “if you’re talking to me, you can breathe just fine.”

An officer put a spit hood on Mr. Ellis’ head, while he was hogtied on his stomach and Officer Rankine was applying pressure to his back, prosecutors said. He remained in that position for six to nine minutes until the Fire Department arrived, and was pronounced dead at the scene, prosecutors said.

The Pierce County medical examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide, caused by oxygen starvation due to physical restraint, with methamphetamine intoxication and a heart condition contributing factors.

Lawyers for the defense argued that it was the latter two factors that caused Mr. Ellis’ death, and said that Mr. Ellis fought the officers with extraordinary strength, which justified the aggressive tactics they used to subdue him, the Seattle Times reported.

That account, however, was contradicted by two witnesses, who prosecutors said described what appeared to be a calm conversation between Mr. Ellis and the officers. The witnesses said Mr. Ellis seemed to begin walking away when Officer Burbank swung open the passenger door, knocking him down, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the audio and video evidence from several sources showed Officer Collins punching Mr. Ellis’ head and wrapping his arm around the front of Mr. Ellis’ neck and locked his hands together while squeezing, applying a “lateral vascular neck restraint.”