Latest news with #ex-Michigan
USA Today
09-05-2025
- USA Today
Mistrial declared in trial of ex-Michigan police officer who killed Congolese immigrant
Mistrial declared in trial of ex-Michigan police officer who killed Congolese immigrant Show Caption Hide Caption Ex-Grand Rapids police officer goes on trial for murder Christopher Schurr is being tried for murder in the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya, who was involved in a traffic stop that turned fatal in 2022. Fox - 2 Detroit A jury deliberated for around 20 hours before a Kent County judge declared a mistrial. Both the prosecutor and lead defense attorney said the outcome is disappointing. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said he will take time before making a decision on trying the case again. GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A judge declared a mistrial on May 8 after a west Michigan jury said it could not reach a verdict in the murder trial of a former police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in 2022. Christopher Schurr, 34, was charged with one count of second-degree murder stemming from the April 2022 shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant. Schurr shot Lyoya in the back of the head after tackling him when Lyoya tried to flee a traffic stop in southeast Grand Rapids. Schurr's attorneys had argued the former officer was acting in self defense, after Lyoya attempted to grab Schurr's Taser during the physical struggle. Prosecutors had argued Schurr used excessive force. The mistrial was declared on the fourth day of deliberations. The jury had deliberated for about 20 hours before informing 17th Circuit Judge Christina Mims it could not reach a verdict. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, who first charged Schurr in June 2022, said after the mistrial declaration he had not made an immediate decision on retrying the case. He told reporters that he spoke to jurors and considered their input on the case, although he did not divulge what that input was. "This was not an easy case," Becker said. "This was not a simple case." A decision on whether to try the case again would likely come in a matter of weeks, he said. Becker added that the Lyoya family is "extremely disappointed" by the mistrial. 'Still healing': Memphis mayor, police chief call for unity after Tyre Nichols verdict Lyoya family, attorneys react to mistrial declaration Peter Lyoya – Patrick Lyoya's father – thanked the prosecution and activists he said have stood by his family. 'We're not going to be tired until when we get the justice for Patrick,' he said via the family's translator Israel Siku, during a news conference following the hearing. Patrick Lyoya's mother, Dorcas Lyoya, said s she expected the former officer to apologize to the Lyoya family. Instead, she said it seemed like Schurr felt no remorse. 'It seemed like he only killed an animal. That's how he presented himself,' Dorcas Lyoya said in translated remarks. Matt Borgula, Schurr's lead defense attorney, said Schurr is disappointed at the lack of resolution, but grateful he was not convicted. "This is not 'winners and losers' in this case. Christopher Schurr never wanted to take a life," Borgula said. "I guarantee you he is the nicest man, and this is the most difficult thing he's ever had to deal with, that decision in that split second. We cannot declare victory, because there really is no winning here. A man died, and that is a very serious thing." Borgula said jurors were leaning toward acquittal, but could not provide an exact split among the 12-person jury. Ven Johnson – of the family's attorneys in a separate civil case brought against Schurr over Lyoya's death – encouraged Becker to seek a retrial of the criminal case. Johnson said Becker told the Lyoya family that he will weigh next steps and will inform the family of his decision before making it public. During the trial, demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse in downtown Grand Rapids to await a verdict. Some stood in support of Schurr, waving 'thin blue line' flags that have emerged as a support symbol for law enforcement. Others chanted 'Justice for Patrick,' with one demonstrator waving a flag with the letters 'BLM,' an apparent reference to the Black Lives Matter movement. What happened to Patrick Lyoya? On April 4, 2022, Lyoya was killed in a Grand Rapids neighborhood during a routine traffic stop after he struggled with an officer over a stun gun. Videos of the incident, released by the Grand Rapids Police Department, showed Lyoya getting pulled over by the officer who said he ran the car's license plate and that it did not match the vehicle. The footage shows Lyoya stepping out of the car and seemingly confused as the officer asks for a driver's license and orders him to get back inside the vehicle. Lyoya then attempts to walk away as the officer attempts to handcuff him. Following a short foot chase, the two men ended on the lawn of a home where Lyoya attempted to block the officer from using his Taser, footage showed. The officer can be heard telling Lyoya to "stop" and to "let go of the Taser." The officer then drew his gun while on top of Lyoya and fired one shot in the back of his head, according to the footage. The officer was later identified as Schurr, who was fired shortly after the Kent County Prosecutor's Office charged him with second-degree murder in June 2022. A forensic pathologist who performed an independent autopsy on Lyoya concluded that he was shot once by a gun that was held to the back of his head. Lyoya's death sparked protests in Michigan and led to increased calls for police accountability. Following the shooting, the Grand Rapids Police Department implemented new policies including de-escalation training and created a policy dedicated to the 'sanctity of life.' Tyre Nichols case: Ex-police officers found not guilty of murder in Tyre Nichols beating death Defense attorney says evidence shown during trial was 'irrelevant' Throughout the trial, the jury was able to see footage of the shooting played numerous times and in different angles — from the moment Schurr exited his patrol car to the moments after he shot Lyoya. Jurors also heard from a series of witnesses, the bulk of whom were qualified as policing experts, but also from eyewitnesses, investigators, police officers who responded to the scene of the shooting and Schurr himself. Much of the testimony focused on the Taser, which defense lawyers argued Lyoya had gained possession of from Schurr. Once Schurr believed Lyoya had control of the Taser, he was within his rights to use deadly force and shoot Lyoya, policing experts called by the defense testified. The prosecution focused large parts of its case around Schurr's training with the Grand Rapids Police Department, where he had joined as a recruit in 2015. Policing expert witnesses called by the prosecution said Schurr acted improperly by chasing Lyoya on foot after he tried to flee the traffic stop. Borgula said the case was bogged down by too much information. "I think there was a lot of evidence at this trial that was irrelevant, and that shouldn't have come in," Borgula said following the mistrial declaration. Contributing: Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press; Reuters
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Attorney says data hack case by ex-U-M coach of female athletes is just 'tip of the iceberg'
The Brief The attorney for over 40 former female college athletes impacted by a data hack allegedly from an ex-Michigan coach held a press conference. A former college softball player came forward to share her story about the data hack from which she says she was a victim of. Attorney Jon Marko says the case's victims may grow into the thousands and says the University of Michigan never notified them of the breach. FOX 2 - A hacked data breach lawsuit press conference against a former University of Michigan football coach, involving more than 40 women and expanding, was held Monday in an investigation the attorney compared to like peeling back layers of a rotten onion. Big picture view Matthew Weiss is facing a federal indictment for allegedly accessing potentially thousands of female athletes' personal information, private photos, social media, email, and cloud storage accounts, as early as 2015, before he worked at U of M. Authorities said he continued to do so until 2023. "Like I said, this is the tip of the iceberg," said Attorney Jon Marko. "I think as we peel back the layers of this rotten onion that the University of Michigan has created, that we're going to discover that, that there's going to be different entanglements out there, that there's going to be additional, women and individuals." Weiss is facing a lawsuit for allegedly hacking the accounts of numerous female athletes and accessing private photos. He was fired in 2023 after failing to cooperate with the university's investigation into the case, was recently charged with 24 federal counts, including unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft. There are more than 40 women involved in the lawsuit filed by Marko Law, also named the University of Michigan, the Regents of the University of Michigan, and Keffer Development Services, LLC. Weiss allegedly obtained access without authorization to student athlete databases of more than a hundred colleges and universities. According to court documents Matt Weiss kept notes on individuals whose photos and videos that he looked at — comments on their bodies and sexual preferences. Marko said the lawsuit is being amended to add more individuals. "This affected not only our athletes here in Michigan and not only the Wolverines, but this affected women all over the country who've been exposed and had their data breached," he said. "When (the university) found out about it, they've done nothing in the past three years to try to notify these women." Dig deeper McKenzie Johnson, one of the former female athletes impacted, is being represented by Marko, and shared her story publicly as part of the lawsuit. "Miss Johnson and others had to be notified by the Department of Justice that their data have been exposed and that there was a breach and that their most private, sensitive, intimate videos, data, and photos have been taken by a strange man and are now apparently on servers at the University of Michigan," Marko said. Johnson said she now works professionally with a Fortune 500 company. From 2015 to 2019, she played softball at Grambling State University. She said she recently learned that her private information was stolen by Weiss and that her personal email and social media accounts were hacked into, in 2022. "I don't know yet what information was stolen, so I have a great deal of fear and uncertainty about this situation, honestly," she said. "The University of Michigan has never notified me about this privacy violation, so I had no opportunity to personally protect myself." Marko said for the past three years there was no notification of the data breach for the women. Related: Hacking investigation: Ex-Michigan, Ravens coach had thousands of intimate images Lawsuit filed against University of Michigan, Matt Weiss after allegations he hacked female athletes' accounts "That would have been a nice time to tell these thousands, tens of thousands, potentially of people that their data could have been exposed and were sitting on servers and out there," he said. Marko said that just because there is a criminal court case underway, it doesn't mean that the university doesn't still have civily responsibility. "First of all, we have a lot of beef with U of M, so this was an employee of U of M," he said. "The university's responsible. They have an obligation to protect their students and others. "A police investigation doesn't relieve the university for years of failing to protect the individuals who are subject to the data breach. So, the FBI has to do what the FBI has to do. The university has to do with the university should do, and they failed to do it in this case." Marko Law and Hurwitz Law filed a temporary restraining order to place the personal data of those impacted in a "secure, trusted, neutral third party." "We know that they seized Matthew Weiss's electronic devices, including that data," said Marko. "And so we need, confirmation, in order that, this will be disgorged and secured outside of the university. It should not be in the university's hands." The University of Michigan issued this statement: "While the federal indictment asserts that Matt Weiss improperly accessed online accounts of unsuspecting individuals between approximately 2015 and January 2023, Weiss was employed by the University of Michigan for less than 2 years, from February, 2021 to January, 2023. "Count 23 of the indictment is specific to the University of Michigan and alleges that Weiss accessed protected UM computers without or in excess of authorization from December 21, 2022 to December 23, 2022. "Upon learning of potentially concerning activity in its systems, the University promptly placed Mr. Weiss on leave, forwarded this matter to law enforcement authorities and moved forward with Mr. Weiss' termination on January 21, 2023." The Source Information for this report came from a press conference with attorney Jon Marko and previously reported details of the indictment and investigation.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
7 international University of Chicago students' visas revoked under Trump admin
CHICAGO (WGN) — Some international scholars at Illinois universities are reeling after the federal government suddenly revoked their student visas without explanation. According to the University of Chicago spokespeople, the federal government's revocation has affected current and former students. On Wednesday, WGN News spoke with several Hyde Park campus-goers as the community reacted to the development. 'I feel very strongly about this that this is unconstitutional,' one woman told WGN News. Michael Cohen, a University of Chicago post-doctoral student, said, 'It's all so unjust to these particular students, so I feel terrible for them.' Loyola University Chicago sent preservation notice tied to federally indicted ex-Michigan coach Cohen studies psychology and misinformation and suggests the news stokes students' fear. 'In my lab, we have a couple of graduate students from China, and I know they're worried as well about what their future is going to be,' he said. The Chicago Maroon, the campus newspaper, was among the first to report that the federal government revoked student visas from three current students and four recent graduates. U of C instructional assistant Abigail Schwartz told WGN News that she hopes the administration has the student's back. 'The university, hopefully, will do right by its students,' she said. 'Hopefully, they'll bring its resources to bear to protect them.' The University of Chicago says it's offering to connect the affected individuals with immigration attorneys and also addressed concerns in a written statement: The University has a long history of supporting America's position as a magnet for talented people from across the globe, and we will continue to work to assist the members of our international community.' Statement from the University of Chicago U of C joins Harvard and Columbia University in the recent surge of international students' visa revocations. Many administrators echo similar complaints of this occurring with little to no explanation. University of Chicago among more than 50 universities facing federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign In previous revocations of student visas at other prominent universities, the Trump administration argued that top administrators haven't done enough to prevent antisemitism on campus. WGN News reached out to the White House for more details but has not yet heard back. In addition to the University of Chicago, other Illinois universities say their students have been affected by the federal government's revocation of visas. The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana said its students have been affected. The universities advised those with revoked visas to make plans to leave the country as soon as possible. Eight students at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville also reportedly had their visas revoked. So far, federal authorities have informed more than 300 international students nationwide about their visa status. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Cold weather forces Tigers to reschedule Yankees series times: What to know on tickets
Cold weather forces Tigers to reschedule Yankees series times: What to know on tickets Michigan weather strikes again. The Detroit Tigers' series against the defending American League-champion New York Yankees — and their torpedo bats created by a former University of Michigan physicist — at Comerica Park on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday has been rescheduled to afternoon games because "evening wind chills." Advertisement "Scheduled first pitch times for Tigers vs. Yankees games at Comerica Park have been adjusted from 6:40 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. on Monday, and 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday," Tigers said in a post on X. Series weather forecast There is a chance of rain showers before 2 p.m. on Monday, according to the National Weather Service, then a chance of rain and snow showers and increasing clouds, with a high near 42. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. here is a chance of snow showers before 8 p.m. in the evening and mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Tuesday is expected to be partly sunny, with a high near 41. Wind gusts could get as high as 21 mph. The evening is expected to be partly cloudy, with a low around 27, according to NWS. Advertisement On Wednesday, NWS says, there is a chance of rain after 2 p.m. and partly sunny, with a high near 45. Rain is likely in the evening, mainly after 2 a.m., and mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. TRENDING: Yankees' torpedo bats created by ex-Michigan physicist: Everything to know about new bats All games will be televised on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, 97.1 FM The Ticket and the Detroit Tigers Radio Network and Spanish radio broadcast will be available on the Audacy App and La Z WDTW 1310 AM and 107.9 FM. Tickets to the games can be exchanged. Information can be found here. Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), Twitter/X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress). Advertisement Contact Amy Huschka: ahuschka@ or follow her on X (@aetmanshuschka). Stay connected and stay informed. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cold forces Detroit Tigers to reschedule Yankees series: What to know
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Jim Harbaugh 'completely shocked' by allegations vs former Michigan assistant Matt Weiss
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jim Harbaugh said he was not aware of allegations of computer crimes against former Michigan assistant Matt Weiss until after Weiss coached his final game with the Wolverines in the 2022 College Football Playoffs. 'It was after the TCU game that we — that I found out, we found out, that there was allegations,' Harbaugh said at the NFL's annual spring meeting Monday morning. 'And you said it, I mean indictment, that's not a word that — sympathy for the victims and for Matt's family. It's shocking.' Advertisement Weiss, Michigan's quarterbacks coach in 2021 and the team's co-offensive coordinator in 2022, was indicted March 20 on federal criminal charges of hacking into computers at more than 100 universities across the country and stealing the identities of more than 3,300 student athletes, mostly female. He pleaded not guilty to all 24 charges he faces during a hearing last week in Detroit's federal court. Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh, center, quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss, right, and quarterback Cade McNamara during warmups before action against the Indiana Hoosiers, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021 at Michigan Stadium. Weiss is alleged to have committed his crimes in 2015-23 by breaking into student-athlete databases maintained by a third-party vendor. According to the indictment, Weiss downloaded "personal, intimate, digital photographs and videos" of unwitting women. After gaining access to accounts, he returned to them to look for compromising photos and videos. Advertisement THE STORY: Feds indict ex-Michigan coach Matt Weiss: He hacked computers to spy on women Weiss worked as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens in 2009-20, under Harbaugh's brother John, before joining Michigan in 2021. Weiss reportedly spent the past two seasons working as a contractor with the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks, according to Pro Football Talk. 'Just really shocking,' John Harbaugh said. 'Shocking. Surprising. Didn't see that one coming. Found out about it the same time everybody else did. Don't know what to make of it. Just feel really bad for the people involved, that were affected by it. Especially his family and then the people that were victims of that. I love (Weiss' wife) Melissa and the kids. It's really just a disturbing situation.' Advertisement At least five current and former student athletes have filed a class-action lawsuit against Weiss, the University of Michigan board of regents and third-party vendor, Keffer Development Services. One of the suits requested the court enter a judgment exceeding $100 million. The University of Michigan Police Department opened an investigation into alleged computer crimes that occurred at Schembechler Hall from Dec. 21-23, 2022. Michigan lost Dec. 31 to TCU, 51-45, in the college football semifinals. According to the U-M Police log, a university employee informed police about the incident on Jan. 5. Reports surfaced that authorities were seen in marked and unmarked vehicles at Weiss' Ann Arbor home a few days later. Weiss was quickly placed on administrative leave, then fired Jan. 20. Advertisement 'Just completely shocked,' Jim Harbaugh said Monday. 'Disturbed.' Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@ Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Harbaugh 'completely shocked' by Matt Weiss allegations at Michigan
