Christopher Schurr trial: Testimony continues for murder case against officer who shot Patrick Lyoya

KENT COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Christopher Schurr, the former Grand Rapids police officer charged with murder for killing Patrick Lyoya in 2022, returns to court Wednesday as his trial continues.

The trial is taking place in Kent County court and FOX 2 is streaming the coverage every day. Court will resume around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, with delayed coverage above.

Prosecution cross-examines police captain

The prosecution questioned Capt. David Siver about Grand Rapids Police's policy on foot pursuits.

He pointed Siver toward guidance from the local police agency about treating foot pursuits with caution, that any officer involved in one should be prepared for the suspect to be armed.

However, Grand Rapids police don't have a policy on foot pursuits, Siver told the courtroom.

The judge called for a conclusion to testimony shortly after - and will resume Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

Walking through Shurr's actions

Captain David Siver walked the courtroom through each of Schurr's actions from the beginning of his interactions with Lyoya to when shots are fired.

Throughout the escalation, Siver said Schurr's actions were reasonable, adding that Lyoya's statements after the defendant asked that he stopped resisting do not match what Lyoya was doing.

"The verbal 'ok ok' is not matching the physical actions," Siver said.

He told the jury that in the position Schurr was in, from his opinion, he was reasonable in feeling threatened enough that he could suffer death or great bodily harm.

Grand Rapids police captain testifies

David Siver, a captain with the Grand Rapids Police Department, has served on the force for 26 years.

He was asked about the training that officers within the agency go through, which includes experiencing what it's like to be tased. Footage of Schurr's training, including when he was tasted, pepper-sprayed, and other drills were shown.

The defense also asked for his opinion on the testimony from the prosecution's witnesses outlining police tactics and "officer-related jeopardy."

The prosecution took issue with the line of questioning, leading to a different question: regarding police practices involving foot chases in Grand Rapids, is what they said consistent with how the Grand Rapids Police Department trains its officers?

He said no. They have no specific policy around pursuing someone while an occupant is still in the car.

He later testified that a "multitude of factors" in every police scene means every response could be different. That's why they don't limit telling officers what the correct response would be in a situation.

"We try to give them parameters and operate within those," said Siver.

Defense calls Grand Rapids cops to stand

There were several police officers called to the stand, detailing their experience while responding to the scene.

The first was Timothy Johnston, who is retired but previously worked as a patrol officer for Grand Rapids police.

He was among the first officers to respond to the scene after Schurr radioed for backup. He characterized Schurr with "complete exhaustion" in the immediate moments after Lyoya was shot.

It sounded like he had "reached his physical limit," he told the court.

He explained the first things he did after arriving at the scene, telling the court he was unaware of what had happened and approached the scene alert and wary of any interactions.

The second officer on the stand was Sam Mott. He's been on the force for five years. He was first asked about Schurr's fitness, adding he was in better shape than himself.

He arrived soon after Johnston got to the scene.

The next witness was officer Nicolas Calati. When he arrived to the scene, he was aware that another officer had disarmed a citizen before making contact with Schurr.

He described Schurr as "worn out" with an exhausted posture. He told the court he remained at the scene for the rest of the day.

Defense calls first witness + Early lunch break

Bob McFarlane was the first witness the defense called. He is an expert in forensic video analysis.

McFarlane was tasked with synchronizing the various videos of the incident - and walked the jury through how he built the exhibit. The prosecution objected to the testimony after an hour, arguing it was redundant and not relevant due to the videos already being shown to the jury.

McFarlane stepped down but will return to the stand during a later portion of the defense's case.

The judge called for an early lunch and will resume witness testimony at 12:45 p.m.

Judge quashes mistrial request

Before the defense presented its case, attorneys for Schurr moved for a mistrial based on testimony from both Nicholas Bloomfield and Seth Stoughton, arguing they were not experts in the fields they gave opinions on and their lack of knowledge of Michigan law.

"We believe that the evidence presented, prejudiced the defendant to the extent that the fundamental goals of accuracy and fairness are threatened by allowing Mr. Stoughton and Mr. Bloomfield to opine on standards that are not applicable under Michigan law," the defense said.

The judge dismissed the request by Schurr's attorneys calling for a mistrial.

Defense asks for mistrial in Christopher Schurr murder trial

The defense attorneys for Christopher Schurr pressed the court for a mistrial based on the testimony from two witnesses brought by the prosecution. The judge quashed the request.

Prosecution rests case

After approximately two days of testimony, the prosecution rested its case against Schurr.

It ended with the last witness, Bloomfield, telling the court he did not see Lyoya attempt to harm Schurr. While he saw Lyoya grab Schurr's taser, because both cartridges from the tool had been used, the threat of the officer becoming incapacitated by Lyoya using it against him was minimal.

"All of those things together would lead a reasonable officer to conclude that they do not have grounds to reasonably articulate that they were under an immediate threat of receiving great bodily harm, great bodily injury, or death," he told the court.

Police expert talks Schurr's use of deadly force

Nicholas Bloomfield has studied police tactics and the case of Christopher Schurr fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya. He told the court a reasonable officer would not have used deadly force.

Bloomfield back on the stand

Day 3 of Schurr's trial continued with Bloomfield's testimony about the actions of the officer.

While Bloomfield agrees Schurr was reasonable in his first actions, he said the ex-officer's use of a taser was done too close to the target and without the goal of retaining possession of the tool.

NMI - or Neuromuscular Incapacitation - which happens when someone is struck by a taser, is most likely when deployed 7 feet from the target. It also should be deployed above and below the waistline.

"The taser is a force-option - was reasonable, however, the manner in which it was deployed was tactically unsound," he told the court.

Based on Bloomfield's perspective, Schurr was not in a position to feel an immediate threat.

"I didn't see anything in the facts of this particular case that would lead me to believe that a reasonable officer would have felt that that was an immediate threat at the time deadly force was applied," he said.

Previous Schurr trial coverage:

The second day of coverage included three witnesses providing testimony: an expert in the taser that Schurr was armed with during the incident, a professor who studies police tactics, and a former officer who trains police officers.

The experts included Bryan Chiles, who works at the company that manufactures the taser, Seth Stoughton, a law professor in South Carolina who studies "officer-created jeopardy," and Nicholas Bloomfield, who reviews uses of force.

In dissecting Schurr's bodycam footage, Bloomfield said the officer had made reasonable decisions in trying to apprehend Lyoya when he struck him in the knees, as well as when he was wrestling with him on the ground.

He did take issue with how Schurr deployed the taser.

Day two testimony includes taser expert, police tactics professor

Day one witnesses take the stand

Expert describes when Christopher Schurr should have stopped pursuing Patrick Lyoya

A law professor who studies the tactics of police and public safety, including a concept of officer-created jeopardy, told the court when he believed Christopher Schurr should have stopped pursuing Patrick Lyoya.

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: Previous FOX 2 reporting was used in this story.