A Los Angeles Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the case of a former Whittier police detective, charged with assault for an on-duty shooting that left a man paralyzed, after jurors declared Wednesday morning, Nov. 19, that they were deadlocked after two-plus days of deliberations.
Salvador Murillo, 44, will return to court on Jan. 13, when prosecutors may decide whether they want to retry the case against him. Murillo faces two counts each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and assault by color of authority.
The jury’s foreman told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George Lomeli that the panel was split 7-5 in favor of guilt on two of the charges and 8-4 in favor of guilt on the other two charges.
On April 30, 2020, Murillo and his partner were in plain clothes in an unmarked police car when they spotted a car wanted in connection with a theft investigation and called for backup, according to evidence presented at trial. A brief pursuit ended in an alley south of Walnut Avenue between Comstock and Greenleaf avenues.
The man in the car, Nicholas Carrillo, backed into the unmarked car before getting out and running, video shows. Murillo’s partner, Cynthia Lopez, fired one shot as Carrillo backed up, then two more as he got out of the car, prosecutors said.
Murillo gave chase, then pulled his gun and fired two shots after Carrillo turned a corner and jumped to get over a gate. Murillo testified that he fired twice at that point because he saw Carrillo’s left arm extended, his right arm near his waistband and he was turning toward Murillo to see his location — which Murillo said led him to believe that Carrillo would pull a weapon and fire.
Carrillo hopped the fence, then got 15 to 17 feet before falling, with Murillo firing two more shots after he said Carrillo appeared to try to turn toward him.
Two of the four shots hit Carrillo in the back, with the second hitting his spine, leaving him permanently paralyzed, prosecutors said. Carrillo was unarmed.
He died earlier this year from a drug overdose, medical examiner’s records show.
Murillo testified he thought it was Carrillo who fired the shots — not his partner– as the car was in reverse and as he got out of the car. But Deputy District Attorney Jason Quirino told the jury during closing arguments that if Murillo actually believed that, he would have pulled his gun immediately and fired in response.
When the first shots were fired, Quirino pointed out, video shows that Carrillo’s arms were extended out and his hands were empty. Quirino also questioned why Carrillo was shot square in the back if he had been turning toward Murillo when the last two shots were fired.
One of the first two shots hit him in the upper-left back and one of the last two shots hit him on the spine in the lower back.
Prosecutors argued that Murillo used more force than was necessary on an unarmed person when he could have called for more backup or set up a perimeter.
Murillo’s attorney, Vicki Podberesky, said the shooting was lawful and that prosecutors did not prove that Murillo didn’t fire in self-defense.
Murillo was a 15-year veteran of the Whittier Police Department at the time of the shooting. He and Lopez were both charged about three years after the shooting, but charges against Lopez were dropped last year after a judge found there was insufficient evidence against her, court records show. Lopez also is no longer with the department.
Carrillo apparently was not involved in the theft, in which a TV was stolen from a Walmart store; but police say they believe that car was linked to that theft and used by a friend. Podberesky said during her closing argument that Carrillo had a criminal history that included resisting arrest and methamphetamine use.
The city of Whittier, in a separate civil lawsuit, agreed to pay Carrillo $1 million in August 2020.
City News Service contributed to this report.