GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Christopher Schurr's legal team intends to prove that the Grand Rapids police officer was justified when he fatally shot Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in April, one of Schurr's attorneys said Friday.
Matt Borgula, speaking after Schurr's arraignment in the 61st District Court on a second-degree murder charge, said he thought the jury "is going to see clearly that he did everything he was required to do per department policy."
Under the Grand Rapids department's use of force policy, officers can use deadly force "only to defend themselves, another officer, or another person against a reasonable threat of death or serious bodily injury ..."
Schurr feels he did nothing wrong, Borgula said.
"Before lethal force was used, he took several steps, to the point where he was exhausted and felt that he was in danger of lethal harm himself before he decided to pull his weapon," Borgula said. "I think that's going to be the defense, and I think we're going to be victorious."
Ven Johnson, a Detroit attorney representing Lyoya's family, said he thought the second-degree murder charge against Schurr is reasonable, adding the officer was "lucky that he's not been charged with first-degree murder."
"Anyone can say anything they want about what they're going to prove in trial," Johnson told The Detroit News. "What's going to matter is the evidence. We already have the evidence, and there's going to be a lot more by the time the prosecutor and (family attorney) Ben Crump and I go to the civil case. And that is, this officer shot and killed somebody by blowing off the back of his head in an execution-style format when that man was not even armed."
Schurr, 31, killed Lyoya, 26, during a traffic stop on April 4. In a video released by the Grand Rapids Police Department of the incident, Schurr asked Lyoya, a Black immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, if he had a driver's license and spoke English. When Lyoya indicated he spoke English and wanted to know why the license needed to be produced, the officer said the car wasn't registered.
Lyoya eventually fled the car, after which a chase on foot ensued. The officer and Lyoya struggled over the officer's stun gun, according to the video, before the officer shot Lyoya in the back of the head while Lyoya was face down on the ground.
An independent autopsy performed at the request of the Lyoya family's lawyers confirmed in April that it was a gunshot wound to the back of the head that killed Lyoya. The Kent County medical examiner's report found that Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.
Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker announced Thursday he believed there was "a sufficient basis" to proceed with second-degree murder, a felony that is punishable by up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
"First, there was a death, a death done by the defendant," Becker said Thursday. "... The death was not justified or excused, for example, by self-defense."
Experts debate potential defense
But Borgula explained Friday how the video footage could be viewed to justify Schurr's actions during an intense struggle.
"If you look at the videos, there are several stages in which Officer Schurr went from the least amount of force necessary until he went to lethal," he said. "I think you're going to hear some testimony that he followed his procedure and he didn't use excessive force."
Forensic criminologist Daniel Kennedy, an adjunct professor at Oakland University, said the defense could have a solid case to make.
"Ground fighting is very dangerous because it quickly wears out an officer and his opponent is in very close proximity to the officer's handgun," Kennedy said in an email. "Something known as 'weapon takeaway' shooting accounts for at least 10% of officer fatalities.
"If an officer is losing control of a struggle, he can then be at the mercy of a person who is desperate enough to engage in such a struggle in the first place, who is hostile toward him and who is not going to defer to authority. Allowing such a person to gain control of your Taser and/or your handgun puts you at great risk of serious injury or even death."
Shooting Lyoya in the head also might be a defense, he added.
"If that was the only target which did not pose a risk of the bullet passing through the subject and entering the officer's body as well, or that was the only perceived way to end the struggle immediately, this would explain the target," said Kennedy, who added the defense attorneys would still need to overcome the image of someone getting shot in the back of the head.
But David Robinson, a retired Detroit police officer who served for 13 years and is now an attorney specializing in police misconduct cases, said Schurr's actions in his pursuit of Lyoya were not proper.
"Certainly, the execution with a bullet to the back of the head of Mr. Lyoya by Schurr was unjustified and egregious," said Robinson, adding that Becker will have to overcome Schurr's claim that he faced an imminent threat.
Borgula also said Schurr didn't escalate the situation with Lyoya when he gave chase as Lyoya fled the scene. Reiterating that he felt Schurr was following procedure, he said an officer's job is to investigate potential crimes and arrest someone who commits one in front of the officer.
"If doing his job is escalation, then I take issue with whatever expert is saying that, because they're obviously not a law enforcement officer," Borgula said.
The role of the stun gun or Taser is expected to play a role in the trial. The two men struggled in the yard and Schurr deployed his stun gun twice without effect. Schurr could be heard saying "let go of the Taser" on video footage before he shot Lyoya in the back of the head while lying on top of him.
When asked by reporters about Schurr's Taser being in "drive stun," a mode available on some stun guns that can cause pain to the target without firing projectiles or incapacitating them, Borgula said he hadn't seen all of the evidence yet. But he noted that a stun gun in drive stun mode is still dangerous.
"The big question here is: What did our client know about whether that second Taser round had been discharged?" he said. "We're looking forward to seeing the evidence itself from the Taser because they're little computers. We'll identify when it was charged."
Borgula said Schurr's legal team had not yet decided if Schurr would take the stand.
Johnson said he did not watch the arraignment, but said he expected during the scheduled June 28 preliminary examination that witnesses will be put on the stand who will say Schurr used excessive force.
"I'm sure Mr. Becker will have nothing but the best of the best experts who are lining up all over the country to support that what Schurr did is absolute murder," Johnson said.
Lyoya, Schurr supporters clash
At Friday's arraignment, police officers and Schurr's supporters lined the courtroom audience. Protesters support Lyoya were present inside and outside the courthouse.
Schurr pleaded not guilty in a video appearance from the Calhoun County jail.
Schurr attorney Mark Dodge asked the judge to let Schurr out on a bond of $10,000, arguing he was not a flight risk.
Judge Nicholas Ayoub said he recognized Schurr had turned himself in and had no previous criminal history. But the judge set Schurr's bail at $100,000, saying the nature of the charge "elevates pre-trial risk."
As a condition of pretrial release, Schurr cannot purchase or possess any firearms or dangerous weapons, must remain under the supervision of court services, cannot drink liquor or use any illegal drugs and cannot engage in "any assaultive, threatening or intimidating behavior."
Schurr, who was wearing a mask and wearing an orange jumpsuit, told Ayoub that he understood the charges against him. But when asked if he had a chance to talk to his lawyers about his rights, Schurr denied it.
"As of today, I have not," he told the judge.
Schurr's attorneys went on to say that because Schurr was housed in a jail outside of Kent County, they were unable to meet before the arraignment. Ayoub explained Schurr's rights to him and then set the bond.
Borgula said he hoped that Schurr would be bonded out by the end of the day Friday. A woman who answered the phone at the jail Friday afternoon confirmed no one with Schurr's name was there, although she could not say why. Other media, including WOOD-TV, reported Schurr was released on bond.
A probable cause hearing has been set for June 21.
Borgula said he wasn't certain if Schurr had been made aware of the large number of people who turned up at the courthouse to support him but said he wasn't surprised to see it.
Roughly 40 people gathered outside the courthouse before Friday's hearing. Many spectators wore light blue T-shirts that said, “Back The Blue #standwithschurr." Police officers among them declined to comment.
After the arraignment, both those who had been inside the courtroom and those who were in the hallway lined up to hug a woman who had been sitting with Schurr's family.
Some in attendance supported Lyoya, including a group who created a disturbance near the building's seventh-floor elevators. A man wearing a “We the People” T-shirt was yelled at loudly, and sometimes profanely.
A group of Kent County sheriff’s deputies monitored the ruckus and eventually let the man through a stairway exit.
The group of Lyoya supporters eventually left to follow a large number of Schurr’s backers with cameras, saying they planned to edit them into footage they were recording of the event.
A Lyoya supporter yelled repeatedly, “Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been murdered?”
———
(Staff Writer Sarah Rahal contributed.)
———
