GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker says he has not yet made a decision on whether to retry Christopher Schurr, the former Grand Rapids police officer whose second-degree murder case has resulted in a mistrial.
Judge Christina Mims declared the mistrial on Thursday after a deadlocked jury was unable to deliver a verdict after four days of deliberation.
Schurr continues to be charged in the death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old black man whom he fatally shot in the back of the head as the two struggled over his taser during an April 2022 traffic stop.
Shooting death of Patrick Lyoya
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The prosecution may now retry the case with a new jury — a potential monthslong process — dismiss the charge or enter into a plea agreement with the defendant.
Becker may also charge Schurr with voluntary manslaughter, a lesser offense, as opposed to second-degree murder.
During a post-trial press conference, the prosecutor told reporters he had not made up his mind on the matter.
"This is a big decision," he said. "I'll make a decision somewhere down the road. I'm not making a decision today,"
Becker also said the opinion of Lyoya's family would "play a role."
"They're extremely disappointed, as am I," he said. "We were hoping to get a conclusion. We thought we had put a good case forward. Obviously, the jury thought differently."
As part of his prosecution, Becker argued Schurr's use of deadly force was not justified as the former officer's fear of being killed or seriously injured during the traffic stop was not reasonable.
Becker also called to the witness stand an expert on police use of force — Seth Stoughton — who claimed Schurr put himself at risk when he chased after a fleeing Lyoya and subsequently deployed his taser within arm's length of him.
Schurr's legal team, though, claimed the officer acted in self-defense and reasonably feared for his life when Lyoya took "full control" of the taser, according to testimony.
They also argued the jury's job was to judge the moment the fatal shot was fired, rather than the totality of the traffic stop.
Shortly after meeting with them on Thursday, Becker said these two points of contention appeared to divide the jurors.
"They paid attention. They took a lot of notes. They obviously were in there for a long period of time, and took this case seriously," he said. "This happens. This is a difficult case, and this was a very engaged jury."
While Becker did not comment on how the jury was split, defense attorney Matthew Borgula claimed they were "overwhelmingly in favor of acquittal."
"I thought it was a very good jury of people who were put in a very difficult situation," said Borgula, adding he believed the case should not be retried.
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If the case were to again go to trial, though, the defense attorney said he would work to exclude testimony on "officer-created jeopardy," the term used by Stoughton to describe how Schurr's tactical decisions, as he claimed, put the officer in harm's way.
"I think the jury was confused," Borgula said about Stoughton's testimony. "I think that had an effect on the outcome and the fact they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict."
During testimony, Borgula also alleged Judge Mims displayed judicial bias and motioned for a mistrial.
Judge Mims, who is Kent County’s first black female Circuit Court judge, swiftly denied the motion.
“I can’t help but believe if one of my bench mates was presiding over this trial that exact same allegation would not have arisen," she said.
Borgula doubled-down on the allegation during the post-trial press conference.
"It was our belief the judge had been communicating with the jury why she might be biased," said Borgula, who claimed Judge Mims flashed "facial expressions" during Schurr's testimony.
Regarding the former officer's testimony itself, the defense attorney said he "anticipated" Schurr would take the stand.
"Christopher Schurr never wanted to take a life. I guarantee it," Borgula said. "There really is no winning here. A man died, and that is a very serious thing."
For FOX 17's previous coverage of the trial of Christopher Schurr and the death of Patrick Lyoya, click here.