28-04-2025
Schurr prosecution expert said in 2022 that video was not ‘proof positive' of crime
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The murder trial of former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr will begin Monday in Kent County Circuit Court and is expected to include the testimony of an expert prosecution witness on the use of force.
It won't be the first time the expert has given his opinion on the April 2022 shooting death of Patrick Lyoya.
Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, provided it to Target 8 while watching video of the shooting released by police days after the shooting. His take back then: The video showing Schurr shooting Lyoya in the back of the head after a traffic stop and a struggle was not proof either way that Schurr committed a crime.
'It raises some very significant red flags,' Stoughton said at the time. 'It's not in and of itself proof positive that the officer committed a crime. It's also not in and of itself proof positive that the officer did not commit a crime. I would want more information than just this video.
'I see a lot of uses of force, a lot of uses of fatal force,' he told Target 8 at the time. 'None of them are easy to watch. This one certainly is not.'
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Stoughton is among 11 witnesses listed by Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker for the trial. He's one of two prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution must prove the shooting was not justified.
Schurr's defense attorney, Matthew Borgula, has asked the judge to block the prosecutor's witness from testifying.
The defense has also listed more than 40 potential witnesses, including its own experts. Schurr's attorney says he was in fear for his life and acted in self-defense.
Stoughton co-authored a book, 'Evaluating Police Uses of Force.' He testified for the prosecution in the murder trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the 2020 death of George Floyd. The death led to national unrest.
After watching the GRPD videos for Target 8, he said the shooting of Lyoya should never have happened. He questioned the officer's decision-making. Stoughton told Target 8 that Schurr's first mistake was chasing Lyoya after the traffic stop. Lyoya was driving a car with a wrong license plate. The officer was on patrol alone and had no backup. Police, Stoughton said, could have identified Lyoya and gotten a warrant later.
'It is preferable to go slower and safer than it is to go more quickly and less safe,' he said.
He watched the video as Schurr and Lyoya wrestled.
'That officer has no idea how to control that guy,' he said.
He questioned his training and why the officer pulled his Taser when he did.
'Deploying the Taser at close range is not a good idea, because the guy can grab it. That's exactly why you don't do that,' he said.
He listened as Schurr yelled repeatedly for Lyoya to let go of his Taser.
In an email exchange with Target 8, Stoughton said he was later retained by the prosecutor's office and reviewed other evidence before reaching a conclusion. He declined to elaborate with the trial pending.
'Video itself — that is, as the only piece of evidence — is almost never enough to make a definitive assessment as to criminal or civil liability; making such determinations requires reviewing the entire body of evidence in a case,' he wrote in an email.
Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminology professor who co-authored the use of force book with Stougton, viewed the video for Target 8 after Schurr's arrest in June 2022. He's not listed as a witness in the case.
'It's very difficult to determine when a civil wrong rises to the level of a crime, and that's something that a jury has to decide, and it's not an easy decision,' he said at the time.
National expert: Murder charge against GRPD officer not surprising
The key, Alpert said, was the Taser at the time of the shooting and whether it posed a threat to Schurr. It had already been fired twice, striking the ground.
'That certainly could be something that convinces jurors that he was in imminent fear of his life, or he wasn't,' Alpert said.
The trial before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Christina Mims is expected to last up to two weeks.
If past court hearings in this case are any indication, it could be contentious, even outside the courtroom. During previous hearings, the hallway leading to the courtroom was packed with supporters of Schurr and Lyoya. It got unruly.
The Back the Blue Michigan Facebook page is urging Schurr supporters to gather outside the courthouse at 6 a.m. Monday with signs, Blue Line flags, and Stand With Schurr bracelets. Schurr's supporters, including the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association, have held fundraisers for him and his family, including a golf tournament. An organizer with Back the Blue Michigan declined to comment. The police association did not respond to requests for interviews.
Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, who has become close to the Lyoya family and sat through jury selection, said he also expects a turnout of Lyoya supporters.
Security will be tight. Extra deputies were called in for jury selection; so was a bomb-sniffing dog. The court is limiting the number of people in the hallway.
The death led to marches and protests; and visits from civil rights leaders including Rev. Al Sharpton, who demanded justice and police reform.
What led up to murder trial for ex-GRPD officer
The 14-member jury, which includes two alternates, is made up of four men and 10 women. Ten are white, three are Hispanic and one woman identified herself as biracial.
'It's not a race-based crime,' defense attorney Borgula said last week after the jury was selected. 'Obviously, race is always an issue as part of the fabric of our society, but it's not going to be an issue in the case, other than what the personal experiences of the jurors are.'
Many of the jurors questioned were familiar with the case; some had watched body camera video leading up to the shooting.
The video released by police shows Lyoya running away from Schurr after the April 4, 2022, traffic stop, then the two struggling over Schurr's Taser. Ultimately, Schurr, who was on top of Lyoya trying to hold him down, shot him in the back of the head.
Schurr was later charged with second-degree murder and fired from GRPD.
Womack, the Kent County commissioner, has marched with the Lyoya family and was with them at their son's funeral.
'Justice for them, of course, would be seeing the officer go to jail,' he said.
He said he has faith in the jury.
'So racially, we have one African American, so we can't argue about that, but we talk about the demographics and location,' he said. 'You have incidents happening in the heart of Grand Rapids' urban area and the majority of the people who you might put on a jury may come from as far away as Cedar Springs, they may come from anywhere in Kent County, so it's definitely going to be a challenge, but we're going to trust the jury system.'
Schurr's attorney accuses Lyoya family's legal team of trying to sway jury
He urged peace.
'I just tell the community, no matter what the outcome, we're going to have to accept it and we can't take it out on businesses,' Womack said. 'We can't take it out on each other. We don't need violence; we don't need riots. That's something that even the Lyoya family has been trying to get out to the media.
'We want peace after this verdict.'
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