WATCH: Three Washington Police Officers Found Not Guilty Following The Death Of Black Man

Three Washington Police officers have been found not guilty after a black man died under similar circumstances to George Floyd.

The jury concluded that the officers were not responsible for the death of the man as he was already under the influence of methamphetamine and had a preexisting heart condition.

The parallels of this case with that of George Floyd are striking.

It begs the question again whether Derek Chauvin received a fair trial.

BREAKING: A jury has found three officers not guilty in the 2020 death of Manuel "Manny" Ellis while in police custody in Tacoma, Washington.

Read more: https://t.co/8a2xUbSyJZ pic.twitter.com/GgLbqUA1RN

— ABC News (@ABC) December 21, 2023

The Associated Press shares more on the story:

Two of the officers — Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38 — had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while Timothy Rankine, 34, was charged with manslaughter. Their attorneys argued that Ellis died from a lethal amount of methamphetamine that was in his system as well as a preexisting heart condition, not from the officers’ actions, and the jury found the three not guilty on all counts.

There was a gasp from the gallery when the first not-guilty verdict was read. Rankine sat forward in his seat and wiped his eyes, while Collins hugged his lawyer.

Matthew Ericksen, a lawyer representing the Ellis family, said it was hard to convey how devastating the verdict was for the family and community.

“The biggest reason why I personally think this jury found reasonable doubt is because the defense was essentially allowed to put Manny Ellis on trial,” Ericksen said via email. “The defense attorneys were allowed to dredge up Manny’s past and repeat to the jury again and again Manny’s prior arrests in 2015 and 2019. That unfairly prejudiced jurors against Manny.”

Ellis was walking home with doughnuts from a 7-Eleven in Tacoma, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Seattle, late on March 3, 2020, when he passed a patrol car stopped at a red light, with Collins and Burbank inside.

The officers claimed they saw Ellis try to open the door of a passing car at the intersection and he became aggressive when they tried to question him about it. Collins testified that Ellis demonstrated “superhuman strength” by lifting him off the ground and throwing him through the air.

A jury has found three officers not guilty in the 2020 death of Manuel "Manny" Ellis while in police custody in Tacoma Washington, protests have begun. Businesses are boarding up. pic.twitter.com/xAI3rB4NCg

— Freyja™ (@FreyjaTarte) December 22, 2023

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