Christopher Schurr Trial: Judge declares mistrial in murder trial of Grand Rapids police officer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A judge has declared a mistrial after the jury remained deadlocked in the murder trial of an ex-Grand Rapids police officer.
Christopher Schurr shot and killed Patrick Lyoya in 2022 after a struggle between the two escalated to deadly force following more than two minutes of the officer attempting to subdue the 26-year-old man.
However, after several days of deliberations, the 12 jurors were unable to reach a verdict.
Christopher Schurr on trial
Schurr's trial lasted over five days and included more than a dozen witnesses giving testimony before a jury panel picked from around Kent County. Jury deliberations lasted just as long.
The latest:
After several days of deliberations, a jury was unable to make a decision whether the ex-Grand Rapids police officer was guilty of second-degree murder.
The judge entered the court room shortly before 10 a.m. after receiving communication the jury was unable to reach a decision. It was the second time during deliberations the jury told the judge they were deadlocked.
Schurr expressed little emotion after the decisions as announced.
It will be up to the Kent County prosecutor whether to try Schurr again.
After confirming with the judge, the jurors were discharged for the day. A future court date was not set by the judge.
Big picture view:
Among those called to the stand included family of Lyoya, former and current law enforcement officers from Michigan State Police and Grand Rapids, consultants and experts in various police practices.
That includes professors that study traditional police policies, state troopers that investigated the officer-involved shooting, members of the Grand Rapids Police Department, and experts on tasers.
Schurr also testified in his defense - telling the court it was important for him to "get his side of the story" before the jury.
But at the heart of the case was whether Schurr was acting as a reasonable officer would when he chose to fatally shoot Lyoya.
Dig deeper:
The prosecution told the court that Schurr was not acting reasonably when he shot Lyoya. He had already tried physically limiting Lyoya's movements before attempting to use a taser.
During the skirmish, Lyoya managed to get possession of the taser - leading Schurr to claim he feared for his life and to discharge his firearm in self-defense.
Video caught the majority of the struggle, leading the arguments within court to swirl around the intentions of both individuals as well as whether Schurr followed his training in his escalation of use of force.
The defense said Schurr had half-a-second to make his decision - and that jurors should consider his mindset when deciding whether the officer was appropriate in his actions.
But the prosecution says it's the totality of circumstances that should have informed Schurr's decision-making, and that when all is taken into consideration, he chose wrong.
A breakdown of each day of court can be found below:
- Day five: Schurr testifies
- Day four: Defense calls officers to the stand
- Day three: Prosecution rests case
- Day two: Testimony includes taser expert, police tactics professor
- Day one: Witnesses take the stand
The backstory:
On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya, 26, and a friend were driving in Grand Rapids when an officer pulled up behind them. Schurr, the only officer in his squad vehicle at the time, called a traffic stop in the area of Griggs Street and Nelson Avenue.
Schurr originally pulled Lyoya over for having improper vehicle registration. Lyoya had already been on probation at the time of the stop, which was for owning a license plate that was registered to a different vehicle than the one he was driving.
Lyoya ignored Schurr's orders when he exited his car. He later walked away from the officer, leading Schurr to try and grab him by the arm. Lyoya instead ran.
The altercation between Schurr and Lyoya eventually led to the officer chasing him, calling for backup, and ordering Lyoya to stop resisting several times. The two continued to wrestle, leading to Schurr pulling out a taser, which Lyoya pushed away.
The scene ended with Schurr on top of Lyoya, who was chest down on the ground. Schurr at times could be heard telling Lyoya to let go of his taser. Minutes later, Schurr drew his gun, presses it against the back of Lyoya's head, and shoots him.
The entire incident happened over 5 minutes, from 8:11 a.m. to 8:16 a.m.
Schurr was charged with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting.
The Source: Information for this story came from previous reporting, Kent County Circuit Court, and trial coverage in Grand Rapids