Following Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Becker’s announcement on Thursday, May 22, that ex-Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr will not will not be retried in the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya in 2022, Levine & Levine Managing Partner Randall Levine spoke with WWMT News Channel 3 about the prosecutor’s decision.
“I'm actually not surprised by his decision based on what became known as an overwhelming feeling of the jury for acquittal,” Levine said in his interview. “I think that the government and the defense had an opportunity to talk to jurors. I think that the jury heard the entire case, and based on the evidence, they were unable to come to a verdict, and the overwhelming sentiment in that jury room was for a verdict of not guilty and so the likelihood is that either that would occur again or Mr. Schurr was likely to be acquitted. I think the prosecutor took that into consideration in making the decision not to retry him.”
Schurr had been charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Lyoya in Grand Rapids in April 2022. During his trial in May, jurors also considered a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. After days of deliberation, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision for a verdict and the case was declared a mistrial.
“Every case is unique,” said Levine, who is not connected to the case. “This is one of those cases where you had a white police officer who, ultimately, took the life of a black motorist during a confrontation. These cases have occurred across the country and I think it speaks volumes to the need, perhaps, for some fundamental changes in the way we police our citizenry. I'm not suggesting that the mistrial in this case was not warranted. All I'm saying is that this was a tough case both for the government and the defense. In a criminal case, a verdict must be unanimous. I think the prosecuting attorney recognized that the likelihood of him getting a group of 12 citizens of Grand Rapids to be unanimous about a conviction, based on the facts of this case, was unlikely.”
A rally in support of Lyoya’s family was held later Thursday evening in Grand Rapids. Levine spoke with WWMT about what could be the next steps for the Lyoya family.
“They have a civil lawsuit,” said Levine. “You may recall many years ago, OJ Simpson was tried and acquitted and then there was a civil case against him. There's a civil case pending now (against Schurr). In a civil case, where liberty is not involved but it's a question of compensation, you don't need unanimity and your burden of proof is not beyond a reasonable doubt – it's only by a preponderance. The standard is a lot lesser in a civil case and I expect the civil case will go forward. I would not be surprised whether it settles for a significant amount of damage.”
Watch the full interview, here.
