'Evokes all the stereotypes of Nazi Germany:' Judge calls out prosecution in Ellis death trial for word choice

TACOMA, Wash. - The final moments of the Manny Ellis trial in Tacoma ended with outrage, as Judge Bryan Chushcoff admonished Prosecuting Attorney Patty Eakes for continuing to disregard his warning about her choice of words.

On Wednesday, the jury was sent out of the courtroom as the Attorney General’s office special prosecutor Patty Eakes finished her rebuttal to the defense teams’ closing arguments.

"Mr. Ellis didn’t need to die that day, if only he had been granted the dignity of being human and being responded to," she said in the last sentence of her rebuttal.

Manuel ‘Manny’ Ellis died in Tacoma Police custody in March 2020.

The defense immediately objected to her choice of words when she referred to the treatment of Ellis by Tacoma Police officers as less than human.

With the jury out of the courtroom, Judge Chuschoff told Eakes she had gone too far.

Chushcoff: "Did I not say to you, you are on the boundary, don’t push it any farther."

Eakes: "I understand that, but I didn’t think I was even pushing the boundary."

Chushcoff: "Evidently, but that I guess is how obtuse you are, and you’re not listening to what I’m telling you."

Eakes: "Your Honor, I am listening to what you had to say."

Chushcoff: "Then why did you ignore it?"

On Tuesday morning, Chushcoff warned Eakes that she had crossed the line when she made a similar comparison during her closing argument on Monday. Eakes said Tacoma officers treated Ellis like an animal. 

PREVIOUS: ‘You're pushing the boundaries. Don’t push it any further,’ judge warns prosecution in Ellis case

The defense started the hearing off on Tuesday, saying Eakes' choice of words was an intentional attempt at evoking prejudice and stereotypes against their clients.

On Wednesday, Chushcoff again addressed Eakes choice of words. He said the language she used created imagery of hatred.

"’Less than human' evokes all the stereotypes of Nazi Germany, and what does that due in terms of stirring people’s emotions," he said.

Chushcoff told Eakes not only is her choice of words inappropriate, but the evidence does not back up her statement.

"If they {the defendants} had done the sort of things you {Eakes} were talking about, which is, from the very beginning, they didn’t do anything about, well, you might have a better argument, but the evidence of the case is, from your own witness, as you just said, that wasn’t the state’s position, for most of the times, maybe even all of the times, that {indiscernible} was made, they were in no position to do anything about because they had to get him {Ellis} under control first," said Chushcoff.

He told Eakes her statement could be enough for a dismissal of the case.

Manny Ellis Case and Trial Recap

"If the same kind of approach was being done, and this was an African American defendant, I would dismiss this case for prosecutorial misconduct. That’s where you are. After I said please, in a way that I felt was most sincere, don’t go any farther over the line and you’ve done it. And, yeah, you’ve put me in a bad position. I don’t want to dismiss this case. Because this case needs to hear from a jury, not from a judge about this. They really do. The Ellis family needs to hear it from a jury about this, not from me. We’ve put too much time in this. We have too much emotion in this. There is too much money in this. There is too many people’s lives at stake to be cavalier about the rules, and that’s what I think the state’s done here," said Chuscoff.

He ended the day by telling the court he would take time to consider what to do next.

Jury deliberations are expected to begin on Thursday.