GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Judge Nicholas Ayoub took the weekend to decide the future of the case of People vs. Christopher Schurr at 61st District Court.
On Monday, Ayoub bound the case over to the 17th Circuit Court for trial.
Schurr is charged with second-degree murder for the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya on April 4. Lyoya pulled over for a traffic stop. Lyoya resisted arrest, and he disarmed the officer by taking his taser, Ayoub said in his briefing.
But deciding if the shot that killed Lyoya constitutes murder will be up to a jury, Ayoub decided, specifically stating the manner of death is what a jury must consider.
Guilt or innocence is not something Ayoub is tasked with considering at a preliminary hearing.
“That is not the question of this court. The law recognizes law enforcement officers are required to make split-second decisions of life and death in dangerous and strenuous circumstances. The reasonability of those actions cannot be judged by one person can hardly be judged by one person in a black robe, with a 20/20 vision of hindsight, and from the comfortable and high perch of the armor-plated judge’s bench,” Ayoub said.
Schurr's defense says the judge's comments make it clear the prosecution has their work cut out for them.
“What the argument was in there was, What is the law? Michigan is unique apparently in the United States at this point. That there’s no criminal statute that governs when a police officer can use deadly force,” Christopher Schurr's Defense Attorney Matt Borgula said.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker says if he didn't believe he could convince a jury that what happened to Patrick Lyoya constitutes second-degree murder, he wouldn't have charged the case.
Becker's argument will center around the manner in which Lyoya died and the necessity for Lyoya to die in the way he did- shot through the back of the head. Becker says the manner of death alone is enough to tell him a jury needs to hear the case.
However, Becker expects the defense to appeal.
The defense cited Michigan's "fleeing felon law," which says that because Lyoya was committing a felony — a third offense of driving under the influence — Schurr had the legal right to shoot him. If read in its simplest form, people can be killed if they are attempting to flee a felony under certain circumstances.
Ayoub called the law "draconic" if taken at face value, but says in his decision that the defense's interpretation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the fleeing felon law is understandable.
"As the defendant suggests, there is a lack of complete clarity as to some aspects of the rule under Michigan law. Despite calls for legislative reform or clarification, the defense remains in Michigan as a creature of common law," Ayoub said.
