Mistrial in Murder Case Against Michigan Officer Who Shot Motorist

A Michigan jury said it was deadlocked on Thursday in a murder case against a police officer who fatally shot a motorist during a traffic stop.

Judge Christina Mims of the Kent County Circuit Court declared a mistrial after jurors, who had been deliberating for four days, said they were unable to reach a verdict.

The defendant, Christopher Schurr, formerly a police officer in Grand Rapids, Mich., took the stand during the trial and said that he feared for his life when he opened fire at the driver, Patrick Lyoya, after Mr. Lyoya grabbed his stun gun.

“I believe if I didn’t do what I did when I did it, I wouldn’t be here today,” Mr. Schurr told the jury, in his first public remarks about the shooting.

Mr. Lyoya’s death in 2022 set off protests and heightened racial tensions in Michigan, during a national debate over police misconduct and racism that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Mr. Schurr, 36, is white. Mr. Lyoya, 26, was Black.

Mr. Lyoya’s killing received extensive media coverage, in large part because it was captured on video from several angles, including by Mr. Schurr’s body camera, a bystander’s cellphone and a nearby doorbell security system.

On a cold, rainy morning in April 2022, Mr. Schurr pulled over Mr. Lyoya in a residential neighborhood because the license plate on Mr. Lyoya’s vehicle was registered to a different car.

Mr. Lyoya got out of his vehicle and demanded to know why he had been stopped, and then tried to run away, video footage of the traffic stop shows. Mr. Schurr ran after him, and the two engaged in a tussle for several minutes.

At one point, when both men were on the ground, Mr. Lyoya is seen in the videos grabbing the officer’s stun gun. Mr. Schurr then repeatedly demanded that Mr. Lyoya drop the device, but he did not, the videos show. The officer then pulled out his firearm and fired a single bullet into the back of Mr. Lyoya’s head.

Mr. Schurr was dismissed fired from the Grand Rapids Police Department after he was charged with murder.

The central question the jury was asked to weigh in the six-day trial was whether Mr. Schurr’s use of deadly force was justified. In Michigan, officers may lawfully use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent grave bodily harm or death to themselves or someone else.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that Mr. Lyoya’s actions as he sought to evade arrest did not pose a severe threat to Mr. Schurr. They contended that Mr. Lyoya did not convey a clear intent to harm the officer, even after grabbing the stun gun.

Chris Becker, the Kent County prosecutor, said Monday during closing arguments that at worst, Mr. Schurr was at risk of getting hurt. Mr. Becker said the officer was never at dire risk of death or serious injury.

“You can’t take a life without a darn good reason,” the prosecutor said.

Criminal-law experts say it can be a daunting challenge to obtain convictions against police officers who use deadly force on the job. Juries, they say, often give officers the benefit of the doubt unless there is clear evidence that the officers resorted to violence needlessly.

Veteran Grand Rapids police officers, including trainers, testified as defense witnesses in Mr. Schurr’s trial, lending support to his contention that he feared for his life during the encounter. Other officers who reached the scene soon after the shooting said Mr. Schurr looked drained when they arrived.

Capt. David Siver, a Grand Rapids police trainer, testified that while stun guns are generally not lethal, they do inflict searing pain. After losing control of the stun gun, Captain Siver said, Mr. Schurr had reason to think that he faced a dire threat.

“The chances are, it’s going to be used against you,” Captain Siver testified. “You get disarmed of your firearm, the statistics are out there, it doesn’t end well for officers.”

Officer Jason Gady, who helped train Mr. Schurr, testified that given the circumstances, shooting Mr. Lyoya in the back of the head was not “unreasonable.”

Relatives of Mr. Lyoya are suing the city, seeking $100 million in damages. They contend that Mr. Lyoya was pulled over because of his race and that his killing was unjustified.

According to an autopsy report, Mr. Lyoya had more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he was pulled over. He also had an outstanding arrest warrant in connection with a domestic violence case.

Mr. Lyoya and his family, who fled the war in their native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, lived in a refugee camp for nearly a decade before moving to the United States in 2014.