Court is about to convene again in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. I'm told all the jurors are accounted for, despite the weather. We'll hear from witnesses today, including Officer Ventura, who used to work for Tacoma police and flew from Texas to be here. Jurors are filing into the courtroom. The state has called their first witness: Officer Corey Ventura, formerly of the Tacoma Police Department.

Back in court again today for the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. Judge Jahns has said the expectation is a jury will be seated by this afternoon. Opening statements scheduled to begin after that. We'll hear more juror questioning soon. Attorneys are now arguing over a motion to limit testimony from witnesses (officers). Defense doesn't want testimony to speculate on what could have happened to Altheimer after officers downgraded the 911 call Troyer made. The state says it would be "sanitizing" their testimony.

More jury selection this morning in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. The judge expects to have the pool by the end of today. Opening statements are scheduled for tomorrow. I'll be tweeting updates as I can. You should also follow my media pool seat buddy @byjaredbrown.

I've been reflecting on the news of the past several days, the people I talked to, and what they had to say. And there's one thing I heard from the family of Manuel Ellis that isn't sitting right with me. I need to call it out. A short thread... 1/7 Someone in the local media market sent a message to Manny's sister the night before @AGOWA was scheduled to announce a charging decision in the Ellis case. They abruptly asked to film the family's reaction when the news went public. 2/7

BREAKING: @AGOWA has charged three Tacoma police officers in the killing of Manuel Ellis last year. @knkxfm

Matthew Collins: second degree murder
Christopher Burbank: second degree murder
Timothy Rankine: first degree manslaughter Here's a statement from the police union representing the Tacoma police officers.

THREAD: I've seen a video circulating that, in a nutshell, says "citizen journalists" are uncovering what "mainstream media" won't tell you — that hospitals around the country are empty. So, I want to remind people of important things @knkxfm and others have been reporting. 1/9 Hospitals are canceling elective procedures to prepare for capacity overload. We haven't hit the #COVID19 peak. This week and next are going to be among the worst, and it will vary from place to place (since social distancing measures and compliance differ place to place). 2/9