Medical expert testifies restraint actions of Tacoma police killed Washington man
FILE - Dr. Roger Mitchell, Jr., a forensic pathologist, waits as the jury enters the courtroom in Pierce County Superior Court, Oct. 12, 2023, in Tacoma, Wash., where Tacoma Police Officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine are on trial for the March 2020 death of Manuel Ellis. Mitchell has testified in the ongoing trail of the three officers charged with the death of Ellis that Ellis likely would have lived if not for the officers' actions.
FILE - Christopher "Shane" Burbank speaks Sept. 18, 2023, in Tacoma, Wash., with an attorney and codefendants during the pre-trial motion in the trial at Pierce County Superior Court of Tacoma Police Officers Matthew Collins, Timothy Rankine and Burbank in the killing of Manny Ellis. An expert in forensic pathology has testified in the ongoing trial of the three officers charged with the death of Ellis that Ellis likely would have lived if not for the officers' actions.
FILE - Matthew Collins speaks Sept. 18, 2023, in Tacoma, Wash., with co-defendants and an attorney during the pre-trial motion in the trial at Pierce County Superior Court of Tacoma Police Officers Christopher Burbank, Timothy Rankine and Collins in the killing of Manny Ellis. An expert in forensic pathology has testified in the ongoing trial of the three officers charged with the death of Ellis that Ellis likely would have lived if not for the officers' actions.
FILE - Defendant Timothy Rankine talks Sept. 18, 2023, in Tacoma, Wash., to codefendant Matthew Collins and an attorney during the pre-trial motion in the trial at Pierce County Superior Court of Tacoma Police Officers Christopher Burbank, Collins and Rankine in the killing of Manny Ellis. An expert in forensic pathology has testified in the ongoing trial of the three officers charged with the death of Ellis that Ellis likely would have lived if not for the officers' actions.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) 鈥� An expert in forensic pathology testified Monday in the ongoing trial of three Tacoma, Washington, police officers charged with the death of Manuel Ellis that Ellis likely would have lived if not for the officers鈥� actions to restrain him.
Dr. Roger Mitchell, former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., made the statement Monday and last week affirmed ex-Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Clark蘑菇视频 ruling that Ellis died by homicide from oxygen deprivation caused by physical restraint, The Seattle Times reported.
Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, both white, are charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, on March 3, 2020. Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, is charged with manslaughter.
Collins and Burbank were the first officers to engage with Ellis and have said they did so because Ellis, on foot, was hassling people in a car as it passed through an intersection.
All have pleaded not guilty and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave.
Mitchell was questioned by special prosecutor Patty Eakes about medical findings that led him to his conclusion. Key among them, he said, was the presence of acidosis, a condition indicative of insufficient oxygen.
People experiencing low oxygen instinctively seek to breathe, and heavy breathing is the body蘑菇视频 natural cure for acidosis, Mitchell said. Ellis, pressed against the ground by police as he lay on his stomach, couldn鈥檛 find a position that allowed him to breathe, Mitchell testified.
Prosecutors previously said Ellis鈥� last words were 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥�
Defense attorneys have generally argued Ellis died of a methamphetamine overdose.
Collins鈥� lawyer, Jared Ausserer, later questioned Mitchell about describing himself on social media as 鈥渁n advocate.鈥� Mitchell, who is Black, said he is an advocate for finding public health solutions to problems that have disproportionately affected Black Americans.
Rankine蘑菇视频 lawyer, Mark Conrad, asked Mitchell whether he drew his conclusions from 鈥渃ircumstantial evidence.鈥�
Mitchell said his conclusion 鈥� that restraint caused Ellis to be denied sufficient oxygen 鈥� was based on a number of factors: Ellis being placed in a prone position, his handcuffed hands hogtied to his feet, with a spit hood on his head; the presence of food and blood in his airways; and documentation at the scene that Ellis鈥� heart rate and breathing gradually deteriorated.
Last week two eyewitnesses characterized the officers as the aggressors in the altercation. Lawyers for the officers have said it was Ellis who acted aggressively, prompting them to respond.
Testimony is scheduled to resume Tuesday when the prosecution is expected to call a forensic audio expert to testify.
This is the first trial under a Washington state law that makes it easier to prosecute police who wrongfully use deadly force.
The trial, which started Oct. 3, is expected to run four days per week until December.