Missouri trooper arraigned on charge linked to drowning

VERSAILLES, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri state trooper will be scheduled for a jury trial now that he has waived his arraignment on a manslaughter count linked to the drowning of a handcuffed Iowa man who fell from a patrol boat at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Forty-four-year-old Anthony Piercy made the court appearance Thursday in Morgan County, sparing the judge from formally reading the criminal complaint to him.

Piercy was charged in December in the May 2014 death of 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson of suburban Des Moines.

Piercy had arrested Ellingson for boating while intoxicated and was taking him to a patrol zone office. Witnesses say Piercy didn't property secure a life jacket on Ellingson before Ellingson went into the water, and Ellingson's body was recovered the next day.

Piercy is free on bond.