TACOMA, Wash. — The acquittal of three Tacoma officers who faced charges over Manuel Ellis’ death does not mean the end for Ellis’ family’s search for justice, the family’s attorney James Bible told KING 5 News.
The officers, Christopher “Shane" Burbank, Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine all faced charges related to Ellis’ March 2020 death. Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died while handcuffed and hogtied in police custody after yelling out multiple times, “I can’t breathe, sir.”
After two months at trial, a jury returned not-guilty verdicts for all charges against the officers, a decision Bible said was not supported by the evidence. Eyewitnesses reported that Ellis did nothing to provoke the assault by the officers and contributed video that showed them throwing punches, tasing him and using an LVNR neck restraint against him, while video appeared to show Ellis raising his hands in surrender.
“We didn’t just have video evidence, we also had medical evidence from medical examiners, not just the one that originally worked for Pierce County but from others around the country,” Bible said. “There was a wealth of evidence that would point directly to conviction in any other circumstance.”
Defense attorneys for the officers alleged that Ellis was combative, behaving erratically, and furthermore, that the officers’ actions were not the true cause of his death, pointing toward a potentially fatal level of methamphetamine that was discovered in Ellis’ system during an autopsy.
Unsatisfied with the outcome of the state’s trial, Bible said he and the family will lobby the U.S. Attorney’s Office for civil rights charges against the officers, a move that has happened before related to in-custody deaths. Derek Chauvin and multiple other officers who were at the scene of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis were convicted on federal civil rights offenses.
The family is also continuing to pursue a civil lawsuit against the City of Tacoma and multiple individual officers, which was on pause while criminal proceedings took place. The family has already settled a lawsuit with Pierce County.
“My work and the work of our legal team begins now,” Bible said. “We plan on litigating this case fully, and we will not hesitate to go all the way through trial in this particular matter because we're very dedicated to the truth coming out.”
Bible plans to pursue bar complaints against individual defense attorneys, who he alleged told lies about him in court.
“I think the bar association has a strong stance on making untruthful statements about other attorneys, and we’re going to test that out,” he said.
During defense cross-examination of two crucial eyewitnesses for the state, Sara McDowell and Seth Cowden, attorneys made references to their interactions with Bible and suggested in front of the jury that Bible had coached or otherwise influenced their testimony on the witness stand in an attempt to discredit them in front of the jury.
While Cowden was on the witness stand, attorneys questioned him about text messages exchanged between himself and Bible, referencing one exchange in particular where Cowden apologized to Bible for potentially disappointing him during an interview he gave with a Washington State Patrol investigator. “I tried my best,” Cowden wrote.
Cowden said he was referring to his demeanor during the interview, saying he was stuttering and frequently stumbled over his words.
Defense attorneys also questioned McDowell at length about her interactions with Bible and made frequent references to her cellphone which had been rendered inoperable and from which no data could be recovered. Attorneys said an incorrect passcode had been entered into the iPhone 10 times, disabling it completely. McDowell said she is not sure how that happened but assumes one of her children got ahold of it.
Bible said the claims made against him in court were false, noting, “There was a lot that happened in this particular case that was unusual.”
Responding to the allegations in an interview with KING 5, Defense Attorney Wayne Fricke who represented Burbank said he does not believe he or other attorneys made any missteps when bringing up Bible’s interactions with witnesses in front of the jury.
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"We are allowed to argue inferences from the evidence, and I did that. The others did that,” Fricke said. “If he feels that he was wronged during the trial process in front of the jury, you know if he wants to take that step, he's gotta do what he's gotta do.”
Bible referenced an additional incident where he was told to "Move on, boy," by Burbank's other attorney, Brett Purtzer. The phrase is racially derogatory against Black men.
Purtzer issued an apology to Bible and the Ellis family for his actions. Bible said he still intends to bring the issue up to the Bar Association.
"That letter of apology doesn't change the vigor with which he used those words and that he used those words directed towards me," Bible said.