A former San Diego County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed man in the back who did not pose a threat to anyone, a federal prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, while a defense attorney asked jurors to consider the totality of the situation, including that his client saw the running suspect holding an object in his hand.
Opening statements and the first witnesses testified Tuesday morning in the trial of Aaron Russell, who is facing his second prosecution for the May 1, 2020, shooting death of Nicholas Bils.
Bils, 36, had been arrested earlier that day for allegedly brandishing a golf club at park rangers in Old Town State Park and was being transported to the San Diego Central Jail when he partially slipped out of handcuffs, escaped from a California State Parks officer’s car, and took off running…