TACOMA, Wash. — A forensic video analyst resumed testimony Monday in the trial for the death of Manuel Ellis.
Three Tacoma police officers face charges in the death of Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who died in police custody in March 2020.
Ellis died on March 3, 2020, after a confrontation with the officers.
Officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Grant Fredericks, an expert for the state on forensic video analysis, showed the jury frame-by-frame screenshots of witness video taken by Sara McDowell.
Fredericks showed where both officers were standing as they began hitting and restraining Ellis. Fredericks told the jury that at one point Collins’ hand appears to come down on the same XY coordinate of Ellis’ head.
Fredericks played all three witness videos from McDowell, Seth Cowden, and Aiyana Mallang's doorbell camera alongside each other with audio from police dispatch so jurors could see and hear how the event unfolded from different perspectives.
Defense attorneys began cross-examining Fredericks just before lunch, focusing in on a moment in the McDowell video where Ellis' legs are bent and Burbank moves backward out of the video frame.
Wayne Fricke, Burbank's attorney, asked Fredericks if the video appears to show Ellis pushing Burbank with his feet. Fredericks said at that moment in the video, that Ellis' feet are elevated, his knees are bent, and his legs do not extend. Fredericks testified there is no suggestion in the video there was contact between Ellis' feet and Burbank, but we can't know for sure if there was.
Jared Ausserer, Collins' attorney, pointed out that in McDowell's second video, Ellis can be seen on his side while Burbank and Collins are near him and heard saying, "Hands behind your back."
Fredericks testified that there are moments not captured on video, including what happened before Collins and Burbank got out of their patrol car.
Additionally, defense questioned Fredericks on how he compiled videos from different sources together. He said he used meta data along with various moments in time, such as the flash of a light hitting a house, to sync the videos up as best he could.
Background on the case
On March 3, 2020, Ellis was walking home when he stopped to speak with Tacoma police officers Burbank and Collins, who were in their patrol car, according to probable cause documents.
Witnesses said Ellis turned to walk away, but the officers got out of their car and knocked Ellis to his knees. All witnesses told investigators they did not see Ellis strike the officers.
Other responding officers told investigators that Burbank and Collins reported Ellis was “goin’ after a car” in the intersection and punched the patrol car's windows.
Witness video shows officers repeatedly hitting Ellis. Collins put Ellis into a neck restraint, and Burbank tasered Ellis’ chest, according to prosecutors.
Home security camera footage captured Ellis saying, “Can’t breathe, sir. Can’t breathe."
Rankine, who was the first backup officer to arrive, applied pressure to Ellis' back and held him in place while Ellis was "hogtied" with a hobble, according to documents.
When the fire department arrived, Ellis was “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to documents.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis' death a homicide. According to the autopsy report, Ellis had a fatal amount of methamphetamine in his system.
KING 5 will stream gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial from opening to closing statements. Follow live coverage and watch videos on demand on king5.com, KING 5+ and the KING 5 YouTube channel.