Federal Jury Convicts Ex–San Diego Deputy in 2020 Shooting of Fleeing Detainee

Overview

• Jurors found Aaron Richard Russell guilty of depriving rights under color of law and of using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
• The panel reached its verdict after roughly a day of deliberations in a retrial that followed last year’s deadlocked jury.
• Russell remains free on bond pending sentencing on May 29 and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a potential life term.
• Nicholas Bils was unarmed, had a handcuff on one wrist after escaping a state parks vehicle, and was shot multiple times as he ran; other officers testified they saw no deadly threat.
• Russell earlier pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in state court in 2022 and served jail time, and San Diego County paid Bils’ family $8.1 million in a wrongful-death settlement.