3 Tacoma Police Officers Acquitted of All Charges in 2020 Death of Man in Police Custody

Three Tacoma, Washington, police officers on trial for the death of 2020 death of Manuel Ellis were cleared of all criminal charges on Dec. 21 following a months-long trial. Two of the police officers, Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38, had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Mr. Ellis, 33. The third officer, Timothy Rankine, 34, had been charged with manslaughter. All three officers, who had pleaded not guilty, had faced up to life in prison. Mr. Ellis died in March 2020 while in Tacoma police custody after officers attempted to question him for allegedly trying to open the door of a passing vehicle that had stopped at an intersection, roughly 30 miles south of Seattle....