A Washington state law aimed at improving police accountability is in the spotlight after three Tacoma officers were acquitted in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and left face down on a sidewalk was held as he begged for air.
The measure, approved by voters in 2018, was intended to make it easier to prosecute police accused of unlawfully using deadly force. Initiative 940, also called I-940, removed the requirement that prosecutors prove an officer acted with actual malice to bring a case — a requirement no other state had — and established that there should be an independent investigation had to be executed after the use of force. including death or major bodily injury.
The nearly three-month trial of the three police officers – Matthew Collins, 40; Christopher Burbank, 38; and Timothy Rankine, 34 – was the first to be held under the 5-year law. The trial over Ellis' death in Tacoma, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Seattle, ended Thursday with the acquittal of several murder and manslaughter charges.
The acquittal came a day before a Colorado jury convicted two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain, another black man whose case attracted national attention.
Matthew Ericksen, an attorney for the Ellis family, said Washington's 2018 police accountability law failed in points in a lawsuit that amounted to a test case for the measure, resulting in a verdict that devastated the family.
“One of the major reforms I-940 was supposed to implement was a fully independent investigation into deaths in custody like Mr. Ellis,” Ericksen said. “And that just didn't happen. The law was broken, and in many ways there are really no consequences.”
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office botched the initial investigation into the death by failing to disclose for three months that one of its deputies had been involved in restraining Ellis, despite state law requiring an independent investigation. The Washington State Patrol took over and the attorney general's office conducted its investigation based on evidence collected by the patrol and its own additional investigation before the officers were charged.
Ericksen said how effective I-940 can be will depend on how it is enforced. While the Ellis case exposed gaps in the measure, he said it remained one of the “necessary building blocks to hopefully achieve some police accountability.”
“We're better off having I-940 than not,” he said. “I sincerely hope that this one verdict will not deter future investigations and prosecutions, and I know the Ellis family feels the same way.”
Other police reform advocates were also disappointed by the verdict, but said the fact the case went to trial at all — because the law dropped the requirement that prosecutors prove officers acted maliciously — marked a significant change. Another Washington state officer, Jeff Nelson in Auburn, south of Seattle, is awaiting trial on murder charges filed after I-940.
“We made it possible for them to know that you can be charged if you do something wrong,” said Tonya Isabell, cousin of Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother who was fatally shot by Seattle police in 2017. “We are all hurting, we are devastated and we are angry. But again, we have to look at the overall outcome of this.”
Attorneys for the three Tacoma officers said their clients acted in good faith and were relieved by the verdict. The Pierce County medical examiner ruled Ellis' death a homicide caused by oxygen deprivation, but the defense argued at trial that methamphetamine in his system and a heart irregularity were the cause.
Bremner, who represented Rankine, said dropping the malice requirement for prosecution by law enforcement was generally viewed as unwelcome because of the potential for exposure to criminal liability.
“We've seen a lot of turnover and people not wanting to get involved in a career in law enforcement,” she said. “The vast majority of officers we have everywhere are doing a great job and want to do their jobs in a way that allows them to help people and protect the community.”
Senator Yasmin Trudeau, a Tacoma Democrat who previously worked at the Attorney General's Office on the implementation of I-940, said the law itself does not guarantee liability, but rather “the ability to argue for liability in court.”
The measure has since been strengthened, she said, by 2021 laws that create an independent state office to review cases involving police use of deadly force and ban chokeholds and neck restraints.
“We have a framework that is much more robust,” she said. “My hope as a bigger picture is that we can realize that changes in police culture and the laws surrounding policing are intended to build public trust. And I hope we can work together.”