TACOMA, Wash. — Attorneys for three Washington state troopers charged in the death of a black man who was beaten, shocked and tied face down on the sidewalk made their final arguments to the jury Wednesday before the prosecutor had the final say and the jury was told to come back on Thursday to start. deliberations.
Two attorneys for the officers focused their final arguments on the autopsy report, which said Manuel Ellis had a fatal level of methamphetamine in his system when he died. They also noted that the medical examiner said the spit hood, which was put on by another officer, was “a significant factor and possibly the most significant factor” in his death. The drugs were the cause, the lawyers concluded.
Special Counsel Patty Eakes presented rebuttal arguments on behalf of the Washington Attorney General's office, insisting that the medical examiner was aware of Ellis' medical condition and concluded that he died of hypoxia due to physical restraint. The officers should have known he was going that way because he repeatedly said he couldn't breathe.
After Eakes finished, Judge Bryan Chushcoff dismissed the alternate jurors and ordered the jury of seven men and three women to return Thursday morning to begin deliberations after attorneys finished marking up evidence in the case.
Ellis died on March 3, 2020, almost three months before the death of George Floyd would spark an international outcry against police brutality. This is the first trial of officers charged in the death of a suspect since voters approved a measure in 2018 that removed the requirement that prosecutors prove police acted with malice.
Two of the officers from Tacoma, Washington – Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38 – were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Timothy Rankine, 34, is charged with manslaughter. Their trial has been going on for nine weeks.
Wayne Fricke, who represents Burbank, told the jury Tuesday that Ellis was responsible for his own death because his behavior prompted officers to use force, but Eakes claimed he was defending himself from their attacks, as evidenced by videos and witness statements.
On Wednesday, Collins' attorney Jared Ausserer highlighted parts of the autopsy report that said the concentration of methamphetamine in Manuel Ellis' blood was “well within the fatal range.” An expert who testified for the defense said the drugs and his damaged heart caused heart failure, Ausserer said.
Collins had no reason to attack Ellis, he said.
“You have to ask yourself, 'Why on earth would Matthew Collins risk everything?'” Ausserer told the jury. “He just had a baby. Why would he randomly attack someone walking down the street?
Mark Conrad, attorney for Rankine, who is charged with manslaughter for holding Ellis face down on the sidewalk while he repeatedly said he couldn't breathe, urged the jury to remember the officer's testimony about how he acted when he arrived on the scene.
Rankine checked Ellis for injuries and weapons, Conrad said. He removed the Taser probes from Ellis' body, noticed he was warm and checked his pulse. While trying to hold Ellis in place, he started thrashing around, so Rankine put him back on his stomach.
“He tailors his strength and action to what Mr. Ellis was doing,” Conrad said. “If he had done something wrong, other officers would have intervened.”
Conrad noted that another officer, not Rankine, placed the spit hood on Ellis' head, and the medical examiner said this may have been a significant factor in his death.
“Agent Rankine isn't trained in it. He never used it. He did not assist the other officer in putting it on,” Conrad said. “Our client was taking care of Mr. Ellis.”
In rebuttal, Eakes disputed some of the defense attorneys' claims. One of them said that the jury should not trust some witnesses because they did not come forward in the right way. But Eakes pointed out that two witnesses did not know Ellis had died until they saw it in a newspaper. Only then did they come forward.
The attorneys said the officers did not hear Ellis say he couldn't breathe because they suffered from a condition called “auditory exclusion,” which is a temporary hearing loss caused by stress. Eakes said this could affect an officer's ability to hear things happening around him, rather than the suspect directly in front of him. Moreover, Ellis said it four times after he was handcuffed, long after the struggle with the first two officers had ended.
Ellis was not psychotic that night, as attorneys suggested, Eakes said. She said in the video that he is not threatening, not incoherent, that he was not out of control and that he clearly says, “Please, I can't breathe.” Sir, please, I can't breathe.'
“Mr. Ellis didn't have to die that day,” Eakes said. “If only he had been given the dignity of being human.”