Tacoma Officers Trial: Testimony From Defense Use of Force Expert Continues, Officers Expected to Testify Soon

by Jared Brown

(This article was originally published by KNKX and has been reprinted under an agreement.)

A police use of force expert testified Monday, Nov. 27, that the Tacoma police officers' punches, neck hold, and Taser shocks of Manny Ellis were appropriate because Ellis was resisting arrest.

Chris Nielsen is a training sergeant for the Renton Police Department. He resumed testifying Wednesday, Nov. 29, after court was canceled Tuesday, Nov. 28.

On Monday, he told the jury he believes what Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank said to investigators, which was that Ellis attacked them.

In court, Nielsen analyzed cell phone video of the arrest that turned Ellis' death into national news.

He also said Officer Timothy Rankine pressing on Ellis' back while he was hogtied was reasonable because Rankine had said Ellis was flailing.

"If you do nothing, and he smashes his teeth out on the pavement, then you own that outcome, you're responsible for that, as the police officer on scene. If he smashes his head on the pavement, gives himself a concussion or a skull fracture, you own that outcome," Nielsen testified Monday.

Medical experts have testified that Ellis suffocated from the police restraints. An emergency room doctor testifying for the officers said Ellis overdosed.

All three officers have pleaded not guilty. They are expected to testify soon.

Attorneys for the officers have said they expect to call at least one more witness after Nielsen, a toxicology analyst from the state crime lab, before their clients testify.

Once the officers' attorneys rest, the prosecution may call rebuttal witnesses. Earlier in the trial, Judge Bryan Chushcoff didn't allow state police academy trainers to testify. Instead, he left the door open for the trainers to testify if the officers' training became a dispute.

The jury has heard conflicting testimony from use of force experts about whether or not police are trained to avoid leaving people facedown and hogtied with weight on their backs, which is the position Ellis was in when he died.

One expert testified that police have been trained for years that the position puts people in danger of suffocating. But Nielsen, testifying in defense of the officers, said it was appropriate for police to continue restraining Ellis in that way because he was thrashing around and could have hurt him himself.

Pierce County Superior Court offers a livestream of the ongoing trial, available for viewing below or on the Pierce County Superior Court's Trial Information webpage.

📸 Featured Image: Protesters at a silent march in Tacoma on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, demanding justice for Manny Ellis, who was shot by police in March 2020. (Photo: Ronnie Estoque)