The attorneys for three officers in Washington state who are accused of killing a Black man after shocking, choking, and hogtieing him in police custody are purporting that the victim died because of drugs, not excessive force.
Manuel Ellis, 33, died in police custody on March 3, 2020, in Tacoma, Washington, after an encounter with police in which he was beaten and had a spit mask placed over his head. The police reportedly stopped him because he allegedly harassed a woman on the street, but multiple witnesses disputed that account and said police approached him unprovoked.
During that detainment, a nearby home’s doorbell security camera caught Ellis repeatedly telling the officers he couldn’t breathe. His death occurred three months before George Floyd’s, which sparked global demonstrations to end violent policing practices.
The officers who are standing trial for Ellis’ death are Officers Christopher Burbank, 38, Matthew Collins, 40, and Timothy Rankine, 34. Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Rankine only faces a manslaughter charge in connection with Ellis’ death.
Their lawyers have been in court for nine weeks, working to distance the officers from any indication that they were responsible for Ellis’ death. Instead, they’re painting the cause of his death as a drug-induced demise. Burbank’s lawyer, Wayne Fricke, argued that Ellis’ addiction to methamphetamine spurred on violent and paranoid behavior that warranted the officers’ actions.
Authorities also put forth the claim that excited delirium might have contributed to Ellis’ death. It’s defined as a syndrome that’s typically associated with drug use and is often linked to in-custody deaths, according to the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. However, the American Medical Association or the American Psychiatric Association doesn’t recognize the syndrome.
“This is a situation where he created…
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