TACOMA, Wash. — A Pierce County Superior Court judge denied a motion asking Washington state to pay for all defense costs incurred during the trial of former Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis. The three police officers were acquitted on all charges in December after a 10-week trial.
A motion filed in February requested the state pay for legal costs for two of the officers, Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who were charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Former Tacoma officer Timothy Rankine, who was charged with first-degree manslaughter, joined the motion.
Rankine's attorneys also filed a motion asking Rankine be paid for work regarding the trial's discovery material, which the judge denied.
The reimbursement motion cited a Washington state law that states when a law enforcement officer is found not guilty or when charges are dismissed by reason of justifiable homicide, use of deadly force or self-defense, then the state “shall reimburse the defendant for all reasonable costs.”
Judge Bryan Chushcoff denied the motion on Friday, March 1, stating the jury had to have made the decision and “they could’ve made it for all kinds of reasons that are not one of the reasons for which compensation is entitled,” Chushcoff said.
He said defense attorneys should have established that the officers would be seeking reimbursement at the beginning of the trial and that while defense attorneys argued during the trial that Ellis died from factors such as meth intoxication and heart health issues, jurors were not asked to provide a reason for finding the former officers not guilty.
Manuel Ellis died in police custody following a confrontation with the officers. Ellis was shocked with a Taser, handcuffed and hogtied while officer Rankine applied pressure to his back, pressing him into the ground. The Pierce County medical examiner determined those restraint methods caused Ellis to suffer from a lack of oxygen, resulting in heart failure.
The state reiterated at the hearing that the statute is written to provide reimbursement for defendants under certain circumstances, said Prosecutor Kent Liu, with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.
“They argue that simply because the defendants were found not guilty, they're entitled to fees and costs regardless of the reason for the jury's decision,” said Liu. “And that's simply as not the way the statute is written.”
After the city of Tacoma cleared the officers of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation, each officer received $500,000 and resigned from the department "in good standing." All of the men also remained on paid administrative leave for three years following Ellis' death.
But Casey Arbenz, Collins' attorney, said money can't replace what the officers lost. He added that this hearing would mark the end of litigation.
"These guys lost their entire careers and faced 20 years in prison, so to say they got a half million, I think, borders on shocking," Arbenz said. "They didn’t get anything; they lost everything and now have to move forward in their own ways.”