TACOMA, Wash. — In court Wednesday, Renton Police Training Sgt. Chris Nielsen continued testifying and a forensic toxicologist took the stand on behalf of the defense in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in Manuel Ellis’ death.
Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died in Tacoma police custody after a confrontation with officers.
Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Nielsen and defense attorney Anne Bremner went over a continuum of force pyramid at length, which is outlined in the Tacoma Police Department training manual. The pyramid outlines what level of force is appropriate when officers are met with different levels of resistance from subjects. Nielsen said, in his opinion, Ellis was displaying active resistance to being put under arrest by officers.
Bremner then asked Nielsen to demonstrate what police are trained to do when placing a combative or resistant subject under arrest. The state objected to the demonstration, saying they could not recreate the specific circumstances that took place on the night Ellis died, arguing the demonstration would not be relevant to the jury. The state noted the judge disallowed them from putting on a demonstration with an expert forensic pathology witness related to the pressure that would have been applied to Ellis’ back by officers because they could not recreate those specific circumstances closely enough. The judge allowed the defense to put on the demonstration.
Defense attorney Mark Conrad lay on the ground of the courtroom while Nielsen mimicked the actions he would take if putting a resistant suspect under arrest. The state noted multiple times that during demonstrations, including ones shown to law enforcement, the person getting handcuffed does not resist. Nielsen said he was demonstrating the principles law enforcement officers are taught to follow in these situations and additional actions may need to be taken depending on the level of resistance they are met with.
Bremner then turned her line of questioning to the actions her client, Rankine, took to restrain Ellis on the night he died. She asked Nielsen whether he found those actions to be reasonable given what he understood about the case, and Nielsen said he did, especially considering what little Rankine knew about the situation at the time.
"When Officer Rankine… arrived on scene he was unaware of what preceded his arrival,” Nielsen said. “What he did see was the officers that were tired, Mr. Ellis continuing to struggle in handcuffs, the magazine from the handgun lying on the ground, and then when Mr. Ellis was kind of flailing and bucking around, he knelt and put pressure on him to stop that from happening. My opinion is that was a reasonable response to the resistance that he was getting – it was a fairly low level of resistance but it was also a fairly low level of force.”
'No unnecessary weight'
Nielsen said the most important considerations of officers when they arrive on scene are to render the scene safe, render aid then investigate the alleged crime, but "sometimes they flux," he said. "That process of rendering the scene safe requires timely decision-making."
Much discussion on Wednesday afternoon was devoted to the clarification of how officers are trained to approach scenes and considerations of when use-of-force is to be used. Officers have to react in accordance to the level of resistance, Nielsen said.
When the state questioned Nielsen on whether officers are trained not to put weight on a subject's back while restrained, Nielsen vehemently denied the wording.
“They’re trained to put no unnecessary weight on people,” Nielsen said. “In every policy that you read, will say ‘unnecessary weight.’ There are no categoricals. That is not true.”
“Don’t conflate increased likelihood with probability,” he added.
Nielsen said it would be difficult to restrain a thrashing subject on the ground without applying pressure to their body, so he believed that to be the appropriate and most sensible action. Nielsen said those actions “rarely ever” result in someone’s death. The state objected that Nielsen would not know how often people die due to police restraint actions, but that objection was overruled.
Nielsen also testified that he has never done research studies or papers on the topic, and has never personally witnessed someone die from positional asphyxia.
The former Pierce County medical examiner and multiple medical experts who testified on behalf of the state attribute Ellis' death to the restraint actions taken by officers, saying they limited Ellis' ability to breathe to the extent where he experienced heart failure and brain death.
Previous testimony by eyewitnesses, a forensic video expert and medical experts also called into question whether Ellis did actually resist being put under arrest. A frame-by-frame breakdown of eyewitness video submitted as evidence showed that Ellis put his hands in the air multiple times while he was being taken down to the ground by Collins and Burbank. The video expert, Grant Fredericks, also noted that the video did not support officers’ claims that Ellis attempted to kick them.
Medical experts noted that Ellis’ “thrashing” as described by police could be attributed to his struggle to inhale enough oxygen. Multiple experts said those movements could be explained as Ellis fighting to get the weight off of his back so he could effectively expand his chest cavity, which was restricted by the weight of the officers.
Forensic toxicologist explains lethal drug levels, tolerance
On Wednesday afternoon, the defense for Rankine called Asa Louis, a forensic toxicologist for the Washington State Patrol (WSP), to the stand. Louis has worked as a toxicologist since 2003, gaining his education and early experience in British Columbia.
The WSP toxicology lab is responsible for analyzing samples submitted by police departments, coroners offices and medical examiners from across Washington state. The analysis is used to determine if a person is taking medication as prescribed, or if based on an observed behavior, has evidence of other drugs or alcohol in their systems, Louis said.
Often, Louis said, toxicology reports are requested by police departments after officers observe a subject displaying a specific behavior or by the subject's own admission. Tests can determine common alcohols, identify over 200 types of drugs and distinguish what category the substances are, such as stimulants or depressants, he said.
WSP's toxicology lab received about 16,000 cases last year and Louis said about 70-80% of those cases came from police while the remaining 20-30% were from coroners offices.
Defense attorney Mark Conrad questioned Louis about his knowledge of lethal levels of drugs such as methamphetamines and a person's tolerance. Louis said if a person stops taking a specific drug for an amount of time, they will lose their tolerance.
Generally, he said, the lethal level of methamphetamines is established as 1,000 nanograms per milliliter. Louis said he has also seen medical examiner’s cases where a person died with much lower levels of meth in their systems.
“But again, we still have to have that context of the case," he said.
Louis' testimony continues Thursday morning.
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 also 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.