LOS ANGELES — A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in a case against a former Whittier detective accused of multiple counts of assault.

Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on charges that stemmed from a 2020 incident in which the officer, Salvador Murillo, opened fire on an unarmed fleeing suspect, striking the man twice in the back and severing his spine.

Murillo, 44, defended himself in court last week, denying that he had violated any law during the shooting. The jury was split 7-5 for a guilty verdict on two assault with a deadly weapon charges, and 8-4 toward guilty on another two charges of unlawful use of force with a deadly weapon by a peace officer.

Murillo stood stone-faced at attention as the judge addressed the court, but seemed relieved once the deadlock was announced.

“I think it came down to people’s kind of fundamental feelings about law enforcement,” said Murillo’s attorney, Vicki Podberesky. “It’s about whether you can appreciate the fact that a law enforcement officer is in a dangerous position and has to make a split-second decision.”

Prosecutors declined to comment outside the courtroom. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a question about whether they would seek to retry Murillo.

Jurors deliberated for three days, first indicating they might be at an impasse Monday morning. A note sent to L.A. County Superior Court Judge George Lomeli indicated they had already cast two ballots and most jurors seemed immovable, but Lomeli ordered them to debate further.

Murillo and his partner, Cynthia Lopez, were working as part of an undercover unit in April 2020 when they came upon a white Mitsubishi that had been linked to a robbery at a local Walmart.

The detective called for a marked patrol vehicle to stop the car, according to Podberesky. While Nicholas Carrillo happened to be driving the Mitsubishi that day, he was not a suspect in the robbery, which prosecutors say was committed by his then-girlfriend.

When confronted by police in an alleyway, Carrillo backed his vehicle into the unmarked car. Deputy District Attorney Ryan Tracy downplayed the vehicle collision, describing the crash as “more of a jolt” while noting Carrillo was driving at less than 10 miles per hour. The vehicle’s airbags did not deploy on impact, Tracy said.

Murillo, however, testified that Carrillo rammed his car and that he considered it an assault.

After the crash, Lopez fired one shot into Carrillo’s vehicle and two more as he fled on foot. Murillo took off after Carrillo, and told jurors last week that he believed Carrillo had opened fire, not his partner.

As Carrillo turned a corner out of the alley, Murillo said he noticed the fleeing man reach toward his waist band and turn his body toward the detective.

“At this point everything changes for me. I see Mr. Carrillo’s left hand punch out and his right hand is in his waistband... at this point I believed he was trying to acquire my location to shoot me,” Murillo said during two days of testimony last week.

Assault charges against Lopez were dismissed at a preliminary hearing last year. She did not testify at Murillo’s trial.

Murillo shot at Carrillo four times, striking him twice in the back. One of the rounds severed Carrillo’s spine, leaving him permanently paralyzed. He died earlier this year of a drug overdose, according to coroner’s records.

In his closing argument last week, Tracy said Murillo had no reasonable fear for his safety when he shot Carrillo from behind.

“When Mr. Murillo did the act, he did not act in self defense or defense of others,” Tracy said.

Podberesky reminded jurors that law enforcement officers do not need to see a suspect holding a gun to justify the use of deadly force.

She also brought up Carrillo’s behavior before the shooting and his past arrests for attacks on police and the use of methamphetamine, which she said led Murillo to believe the man he was chasing was a danger to the public.

“Mr. Murillo is pursuing because [Carrillo] acted dangerously and he’s running down an alley in a residential area during the pandemic when we are all sheltering at home, families and children,” she said.

Tracy, however, said Murillo acted unreasonably.

“We believe he did not have to fire four times, at a man who was running away, and unarmed … striking him twice in the back, and paralyzing him for life,” the prosecutor said.

Another hearing on Murillo’s case was set for early January of next year. Podberesky said she hopes the case can be settled in the district attorney’s office before then.

“I think that it would be prudent for the D.A.’s office to come to a resolution that appreciates the sort of position of Mr. Murillo in this case,” she said. “We would look forward to an opportunity to speak to the district attorney about resolving this case.”

Los Angeles County prosecutors have been unable to convict an officer for misconduct in an on-duty shooting since 2000. In recent years, prosecutors working under ex-District Attorney George Gascón secured no-contest pleas from two sheriff’s deputies involved in controversial on-duty killings. Only one deputy spent any time behind bars.

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