TACOMA, Wash. — Jury choice started Monday within the trial of three Tacoma cops charged within the demise of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who was tackled, punched, tased with a stun gun and held within the face. On the sidewalk in March 2020, two months in the past George Floyd He met an identical destiny.
Officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who’re white, are charged with second-degree homicide, and Timothy Rankin, an Asian American, faces prices of first-degree manslaughter. they Not guilty.
Jury choice is anticipated to take two weeks and opening statements are scheduled to start Oct. 2 in Pierce County Superior Courtroom in Tacoma. The trial is anticipated to final 4 days every week till December.
Ellis purchased a field of cookies and a few water from a comfort retailer at about 11:21 p.m. Tuesday evening and walked throughout the road, the place he met Burbank and Collins sitting in a patrol automobile, a supply mentioned. Statement of probable cause Submitted by the Washington Lawyer Basic’s Workplace.
Burbank and Collins mentioned Ellis tried to get right into a stranger’s automobile after which attacked officers once they confronted him. However witnesses say officers jumped out of their automobile as Ellis drove by and wrestled him to the bottom. A number of witnesses recorded the confrontation on their cell telephones, screaming for the officers to cease, the doc mentioned.
Video taken by a lady sitting in a automobile behind the officers exhibits Burbank wrapping his arms round Ellis, lifting him into the air, slamming him into the pavement, hitting him together with his fist within the course of, the assertion mentioned.
“Collins then strikes towards Ellis and locations his weight on him,” the doc states. “With Ellis beneath him, Collins begins to strike Ellis within the head together with his fist. In the meantime, Burbank pulls out his stun gun and approaches Ellis. Collins will be seen within the SM video putting Ellis within the head 4 occasions, with Ellis screaming after every blow.”
Collins wrapped his arm round Ellis’ neck as he pushed and his head fell to the pavement. The officer additionally pressed Ellis’ again whereas pushing his face into the bottom, the doc mentioned.