Apparently, you and the jury didn't know about the officers' backgrounds even tho' the judge allowed the jury, and you, to hear about Ellis' prior arrests. Here it is for your convenience from yesterday's Seattle Times:
"That’s because throughout the proceeding, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff allowed days of testimony about Ellis’ prior arrests, though the police who were charged in Ellis’ killing did not know Ellis and had no prior knowledge of the arrests. The judge also at least twice “lightheartedly reminisced” about his brother sitting on his back as a child during the trial, in an apparent reference to factors involved in Ellis’ death, according to reporting by Patrick Malone.
"Ellis died after being
punched, hit with a Taser, thrown to the ground, handcuffed, hogtied, hobbled and experiencing multiple officers taking turns pressing their weight on his back as he lay prone. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by oxygen deprivation from physical restraint, though the
defense argued Ellis died due to a heart condition and high levels of methamphetamine in his system.
"Meanwhile, the judge ruled that allowing jurors to hear details about the officers’ backgrounds would prejudice the jury against them. He excluded testimony about one of the charged officers, Timothy Rankine, that described Rankine as having a “mental break” during an online simulation test where he unnecessarily shot a virtual suspect.
"Chushcoff also excluded a lawsuit accusing Rankine of using excessive force on a different man who said he couldn’t breathe under Rankine’s weight.
'The judge also excluded the background of accused officer Christopher Burbank, which included 15 use-of-force investigations, a racial profiling allegation and an admission of punching a Black man, Malone
reported."
The way the trial was conducted was reminiscent of the same stacked deck that has characterized police accountability cases in the U.S. since forever, writes Naomi Ishisaka.
www.seattletimes.com
