GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Defense attorneys for the former Grand Rapids Police Department officer charged in the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya filed a motion in Kent County Circuit Court Tuesday requesting that the charges against him be dropped.
Christopher Schurr was charged with second-degree murder after Lyoya was killed in a traffic stop that turned violent back on April 4, 2022.
In a preliminary hearing held over three days in October, a District Court judge determined there was ample probable cause to proceed with the second-degree murder charge.
Schurr’s attorneys now argue that the case never should have been “bound over” to Circuit Court, as they feel his actions on April 4 did not meet the legal requirements of a second-degree murder charge.
“This Court should quash the bind-over order because the statute charged, as applied to Officer Schurr, violates his right to due process because the element of justification is void for vagueness.”
The district court judge initially overseeing the case noted three legal justifications for Officer Schurr’s use of deadly force, including the common law fleeing felon rule, in response to force being used by the arrestee, and in self-defense.
The motion filed Tuesday argues, “The district court erred in its legal findings related to the raised defenses, and the government’s evidence presented at the preliminary examination failed to provide disputed facts that would leave any question open for a jury to decide or support a finding that Officer Schurr committed a crime.”
FOX 17 reached out to Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, who brought the charges against Schurr.
"We have two weeks to file a response to the motion which was the agreed timeline when we were in court last. We are reviewing it and will respond," said Becker.
Christopher Schurr’s trial is currently scheduled to begin on March 13.
Read the full motion below:
Schurr - Motion to Quash by WXMI on Scribd
Click here for more coverage on the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya.
