Closing arguments kick off as emotional, intense Manny Ellis trial winds to close

TACOMA, Wash. — Closing arguments in the Manuel Ellis murder trial kick off this week, wrapping up an emotional and intense 10 weeks.

Prosecutors have stood firm in their belief that three Tacoma police officers -- Timothy Rankine, Matthew Collins, and Christopher Burbank -- were responsible for Ellis’ death in March of 2020.

Throughout the trial, they’ve pointed to aggressive tactics from the responding officers, who they allege tased, beat, and choked Ellis to death.

On that night in 2020, cellphone video shows Ellis as he’s stopped by officers Burbank and Collins on his way to the Tacoma halfway house where he was living. At the time, officers believed he was trying to break into a car.

Those videos show Ellis telling officers he was unable to breathe numerous times, as he was hogtied while handcuffed and laying flat on the ground. The Pierce County Medical Examiner later ruled that Ellis was killed by oxygen deprivation from being physically restrained by officers.

The defense’s trial has centered around their assertion that Ellis’ death was at least in part due to a combination of an enlarged heart and methamphetamine later found in his system.

All three officers are charged with manslaughter, while both Collins and Burbank are also charged with second degree murder.

Closing arguments begin this week, followed by jury deliberation.

©2023 Cox Media Group