Jurors in a 10th floor courtroom in Grand Rapids heard from the first witnesses Monday in the long-awaited trial of a former GRPD police officer charged with murder.
Christopher Schurr is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head after a struggle during a traffic stop in 2022.
The trial was delayed more than two years because of appeals filed by Schurr’s attorneys, who wanted the charges thrown out.
Jurors heard from a friend of Lyoya, and from the passenger who was in Lyoya’s car when Schurr pulled him over.
They also heard from Wayne Butler, who witnessed much of the traffic stop and what he called a “tussle” between Schurr and Lyoya outside of Butler’s house.
Butler said he first noticed the police lights in front of his neighbor’s house as he was getting ready for work in the morning on April 4, 2022. As he saw Lyoya break away from Schurr, Butler came downstairs and stepped out onto his driveway where Schurr and Lyoya initially fought.
Christopher Becker, the Kent County prosecutor, asked Butler why he came outside while the struggle was happening.
“It’s on your property,” Butler said. “When God brings something to you on your front door step, it doesn’t get any more literal than that if you’re a person of faith.”
Butler said he told Lyoya to stay down when Schurr first pinned him down.
“I’m a Black man too,” Butler can be heard saying in one of the videos of the incident played for jurors in court Monday morning.
“I was just trying to calm the situation,” he told Becker.
Butler, wearing a white suit with purple tie, appeared stressed and breathed heavily as Becker replayed video of the shooting, which ended up on the lawn next door to Butler’s.
“It was a really traumatic experience.”
Butler said he left the scene, and ran upstairs to grab his phone to record. He heard the gunshot on his way back down the stairs.
Becker repeatedly asked Butler if he saw Lyoya punching or kicking Schurr at any point in the confrontation. Butler said no.
He described what happened as like a wrestling match, but he said Lyoya didn’t appear to be trying to hurt Schurr.
Butler said he also saw Lyoya grab at Schurr’s taser, he said to point it away from himself.
A key point in Schurr’s defense will be what Lyoya’s actions were with Schurr’s taser. The taser deployed twice during the struggle with Lyoya. Schurr’s defense argued Monday morning that Lyoya grabbed the taser by the barrel, holding it like a pistol, and Schurr feared it would be used against him.
But Butler said in the struggle he witnessed, Schurr always had the upper hand.
“The officer had control the whole time,” Butler said.
“Do you need water,” asked defense attorney Matt Borgula when it was his turn to question Butler.
“Yes,” Butler said quickly, reaching for a water bottle on the witness stand.
“I think we’ve established that you didn’t see everything right?” Borgula said.
Butler agreed.
Borgula continued with the questioning, isolating within the multiple videos of the incident where Butler appeared to be standing, and when he went upstairs for his phone.
“You saw him grab the taser?” Borgula asked about Lyoya’s actions.
“Yes,” Butler answered.
“And move it aside?”
“Yeah they were like struggling over the taser, yes.”
“Okay. You saw Mr. Lyoya pulling at the taser?” Borgula continued.
“Like, I guess you could say that, yes, yup. I don’t know if pulling at it is," Butler paused, "trying to —"
“Grab it?”
“No, not take it away. But to avoid it,” Butler answered.
“Well you saw him get the taser, right?”
“Yeah, but I mean like, yeah, yes, yes. They struggled over it, yes.”
Later in the day, prosecutors showed a video made when Schurr graduated from a police academy, which shows Schurr being tased as part of his training. In the video, Schurr lays face down while two people hold him, and he appears to be tased in the back. Schurr screams.
During the opening statements by Schurr’s defense, attorney Mikayla Hamilton told jurors Schurr feared for his life during the struggle, because the taser could have been used to stun and then disarm him.
“If he went down,” Hamilton said, “he would be defenseless and his gun was right there for the taking.”
“This is not the murder case the prosecution wants this to be,” Hamilton said. “This is about self-defense.”
