Photo courtesy of Joel Bissell, MLive
The Schurr Murder trial commenced on Monday, April 28, 2025, in connection to the officer involved shooting resulting in the death of Patrick Lyoya. Former Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr encountered Lyoya during an April 2022 traffic stop. Cooley Law School Professors Lewis Langham, Tracey Brame and Tonya Krause-Phelan have offered expert analysis through each phase of the trial, from jury selection, to prosecution and defense case presentation, and jury deliberation.
Coverage surrounding the trial began with jury selection the week of April 21, 2025. Professor Lewis Langham interviewed with Fox17, laying out expectations for the legal process. "Once this trial starts, we want all the ducks in a row," Langham explained. "So it can go from beginning to end, let the jury make final determination based upon all evidence and testimony, and not have to worry about revisiting this case again on some legal technicality."
Cooley Law School Professor Lewis Langham appears on Fox17
As the trial began, Cooley Professors continued to provide expert analysis during court recess and end-of-the day recaps. A dramatic first day in court saw members of the jury ushered out of the courtroom during an argument over evidence, as explained by Tonya Krause-Phelan on WZZM 13 On Your Side. Later, in the evening, Professor Tracey Brame spoke with Wood TV8 analyzing the first day of the trial. “What we have in this case is a video, right, that really shows us what happened factually,” said Brame. “What it doesn’t tell us is why and what lead up to it, or what was the intent of either of the parties that were involved. And so, both sides, the prosecution and the defense – want to establish a narrative of what happened.”
Cooley Law School Professor Tracey Brame on Wood TV8’s The Seven
Days two and three of the trial saw more coverage as the prosecution continued to call expert testimony before turning things over to the defense. Tonya Krause-Phelan spoke with Fox 17 on conflicting expert testimony presented in the case. "If we look at the prosecution's expert witnesses, notice they were talking about a national standard. Now we have a GRPD police officer who is trained to train officers and is aware of Michigan law, so the jury is going to have to sort out which standard is most applicable to this particular situation." Krause-Phelan stated in regard to conflicting evidence.
Cooley Law School Associate Dean and Professor Tonya Krause-Phelan on Fox17
Christopher Schurr took the stand in his own defense before closing arguments were made on May 2, 2025. Once again, Professor Lewis Langham offered his expert opinion in an interview with Fox17. Defendants don’t usually take the stand in general cases; however, in the instance where a self-defense case may be made, they might, as Christopher Schurr did. Langham noted that “He [Schurr] accomplished that goal very well. I didn’t see any issues with his testimony. He wasn’t aggressive in his presentation, and I think that’s going to bode well for him as it relates to the jury when they go back and deliberate the charges against him.”
On Monday, May 5, 2025 the jury began deliberations based on all the evidence and testimony presented. After hours of deliberation, they became deadlocked, meaning the jury could not reach a verdict after sufficient time was spent in deliberation. Professor Tracey Brame spoke again with Wood TV8 on what a deadlocked, or hung jury, meant for the case. “The initial deadlock was maybe the remnants of some notion of what they think happened or some perspective that they brought into the jury room,” Brame said. “And hopefully, they are now, again, peeling back those layers to try to put aside that polarization and say, ‘What happened in this case, regardless of what I think about these issues, about police policy, about the politics of it. That’s what the judge has been asking them to do and the parties want them to do, is fight through the noise and look at what happened in this case,” she continued, “and it looks like they’re trying to do that.” After the initial deadlock was reached, the jury was sent to again deliberate in an attempt to determine a verdict.
Finally, on May 8, 2025, Kent County Circuit Court Judge Christina Mims declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict.