GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In a pair of rulings just a month apart, two federal judges set up the civil lawsuit filed by Patrick Lyoya's family to inch closer to a trial.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied an appeal by Christopher Schurr to dismiss the lawsuit. On Monday the three-judge panel ruled it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, saying Schurr's arguments did not meet either of the standards for an appeal on the basis of qualified immunity.
The ruling puts the case back in the hands of the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids for a potential trial.
Christopher Schurr, the former officer at the Grand Rapids Police Department, shot and killed 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya on April 4, 2022, during a traffic stop.
Schurr faces a criminal charge of second-degree murder in the Michigan court system.
Peter Lyoya, Patrick's father, filed a civil lawsuit against Schurr and the city of Grand Rapids in December 2022.
The Lyoya family accuses Schurr of breaching his duties by failing to make a proper and lawful traffic stop, failure to de-escalate, failure to wait for backup, failure to create sufficient space before deploying each Taser probe, failure to warn Patrick of his intent to use force before he deployed his Taser or gun, failure to use other methods of detainment of apprehension, and excessive use of deadly force with a gun.
Schurr moved to dismiss the lawsuit, citing qualified immunity as his role as a police officer. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney denied the motion, prompting the appeal to the Sixth Circuit.
It is not clear if Schurr's attorneys will appeal this week's decision.
MORE ON THIS CRIMINAL CASE:
Appeals Court denies Schurr's appeal
'Inconsistent standards': Appeal to Michigan Supreme Court
City of Grand Rapids remains out of lawsuit
The City of Grand Rapids remains out of the lawsuit by the Lyoya family.
Last month Judge Maloney denied the family's motion to add the city back as a defendant in the civil case.
The Lyoya family says the city should also be held liable in the shooting death because Schurr was employed as a police officer on April 4, 2022. Attorney Ven Johnson noted governmental immunity would make the case difficult to win, but hoped an 1871 statute permitting civil rights violations lawsuits against the government would support the effort.
The lawsuit claims the city of Grand Rapids is liable because it “created the atmosphere at GRPD, which influenced Schurr to use excessive force" and has an ongoing practice or custom of racial discrimination.
Grand Rapids filed a motion to have itself removed from the lawsuit in February 2023.
In an August 2023 ruling, Judge Paul Maloney granted the city's motion, saying Lyoya's attorneys failed to prove the city's alleged racial discrimination directly led to a racially motivated act by then-officer Christopher Schurr.
Click here for more coverage on the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya.
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