The trial begins Monday for a former Grand Rapids police officer accused of committing murder while on the job.
On April 4, 2022 then-GRPD officer Christopher Schurr pulled over a grey sedan for an alleged license plate violation. That stop escalated into a struggle, and ended with Schurr firing a single bullet into the back of Patrick Lyoya’s head.
Schurr was charged with second degree murder. And after more than two years of failed appeals to have the charges thrown out, the case goes in front of a jury this week.
Attorneys for Schurr will argue Lyoya grabbed at Schurr’s taser during the struggle, and Schurr had a legitimate fear the taser could be used against him.
Prosecutors have said there’s no possible way Lyoya could have posed a threat to Schurr when he was face down on his hands and knees when Schurr shot him.
Attorneys for both sides settled on 14 jurors for the case after a day and a half of questioning last week. Two of the 14 jurors will be named alternates.
Matt Borgula, who represents Schurr, said the process for selecting jurors went smoother than expected.
A pool of about 200 potential jurors was initially drawn. More than 40 were questioned individually by attorneys. Many were removed for cause, because of health reasons, scheduling conflicts with the trial, or because they already had formed opinions about the case.
Attorneys also were granted 12 strikes each to remove jurors for no cause at all. In the end, both sides said they were satisfied with the jurors in the box, without exercising all of their remaining strikes.
“You know, we got done with both sides having strikes left of jurors which happens from time to time,” Borgula said. “But we’re pleased with the jury and we’ll be ready to present evidence.”
The jury is made up of 10 women and four men. Five of the jurors work in the health care field, three of whom are nurses. One of the jurors said she’s currently dating a police officer from another county, and one said her grandfather was a police officer who was shot in the leg in the line of duty.
One juror identified as biracial, with a Black father and a white mother. Another juror said she immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela. Most of the jury did not identify their race or ethnicity, but appeared to be white.
The case is set to begin more than three years after Patrick Lyoya’s killing. His family members sat in the courtroom for much of the jury selection. Family members did not offer comments at the courtroom.
But Peter Lyoya, Patrick’s father, spoke on Michigan Public’s Stateside recently, describing what it’s been like to wait for this moment.
“Patrick’s been dead for three years now, but the cop that killed him, he’s still out here,” Lyoya said through an interpreter.
Christopher Schurr has been out on bond since his initial arraignment in the summer of 2022.
“He’s still seeing his family, his family is still seeing him, still doing what people that are alive do,” Peter Lyoya said.
Schurr appeared in court last week during jury selection. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
