Latest news with #Schurr
Los Angeles Times
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Mission Viejo, Mater Dei could meet in seven-on-seven passing tournament
Saturday is one of those busy days in summer passing competitions for fans to get a sneak peek of the high school football season. Mission Viejo is hosting a seven-on-seven passing tournament that includes Mater Dei, which will then take its mandatory two-week dead period immediately after the tournament. A matchup of Mission Viejo and quarterback Luke Fahey against Mater Dei's outstanding defensive backs will be something that's likely to take place. Santa Margarita has pulled out from participating in the Mission Viejo tournament and will be replaced by Schurr, which won a tournament earlier this month. There's also an eight-team passing tournament at St. John Bosco featuring the Braves, Servite and Gardena Serra, among others. Salinas pulled out and has been replaced by La Sierra in Riverside. Simi Valley, Redondo Union and Baldwin Park are also hosting tournaments this weekend. After Saturday, the next big day for passing tournaments is July 12, featuring Huntington Beach Edison's Battle at the Beach, along with tournaments at Ocean View and Huntington Beach.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Patrick Lyoya family to speak after decision not to retry Christopher Schurr
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The family of Patrick Lyoya is hosting a press conference Thursday morning after a prosecutor decided not to retry the former Grand Rapids police officer who shot and killed their son in 2022. Lyoya's parents will be joined by civil rights attorneys Ven Johnson and Ben Crump at the 9 a.m. press conference. They'll be addressing Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker's decision to not retry Christopher Schurr. The attorneys are also expected to outline the next steps in the family's civil lawsuit again Schurr. Will Michigan AG retry Christopher Schurr in death of Patrick Lyoya? Schurr shot and killed Lyoya during a traffic stop on April 4, 2022. He was charged with second degree murder, but a mistrial was declared on May 8 after the jury was unable to make a unanimous decision on whether to convict or acquit him of second degree murder or, as a second option, manslaughter. The 12-member jury included nine women and three men; Ten were white, one was Hispanic and one was Black. The mistrial followed five and a half days of testimony and 21 hours of jury deliberations. On May 22, Becker announced he would not retry Schurr. Schurr juror: One holdout kept former officer from being acquitted 'I did not arrive at (the decision) lightly,' Becker said at the time. 'Basically, what it boils down to is I don't think we reach a different verdict if I do do a retrial in this case.' Lyoya's family has filed a civil wrongful death suit against Schurr. Thursday's press conference will share the latest on that case, 'aimed at securing justice and accountability for Patrick's preventable death,' a media advisory says. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Lyoya family hurt, Schurr relieved by prosecutor's decision not to retry, advocates say
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Kent County commissioner who has stood with the family of Patrick Lyoya since he was shot and killed by a then-Grand Rapids police officer says the family is heartbroken knowing the criminal case is over. '(The Lyoya family is) very hurt, still trying to understand the American justice system. They don't see any excuse for this verdict or for the person who shot their son in the back of the head to be free,' Commissioner Robert Womack said. 'We're going to continue to work them on the healing process.' Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Thursday that he would not retry Christopher Schurr, whom he had charged with second-degree murder in the April 2022 death of Lyoya, a 26-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After years of appeals, the case went to trial in late April. On May 8, the jury deadlocked. Prosecutor will not retry Christopher Schurr in Patrick Lyoya's death Schurr's attorneys, Matthew Borgula and Mark Dodge, said their client feels relieved and vindicated by Becker's decision. 'But certainly not celebration,' Dodge said. 'As far as the last three years, it's never been anything to celebrate for Mr. Schurr and his family.' 'The prosecutor got this right here, that a retrial wouldn't be good for anybody because at best it would've ended up in another hung jury,' Borgula said. In a Facebook post, the Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge of Michigan commended Becker's choice not to pursue a retrial. 'This decision reflects a recognition of the complex and split-second circumstances law enforcement officers face in the line of duty,' the post read. Schurr juror: One hold-out kept former officer from being acquitted The attorney representing Lyoya's family in a civil wrongful death suit against Schurr said in a statement that the decision not to retry meant the family would never see justice in a criminal court. 'The Lyoya family has not only lost Patrick, but now the hope that former officer Christopher Schurr will ever be held criminally accountable for taking Patrick's life. With today's decision, what was once a pause in justice has now become a permanent reality. This is not a verdict nor the outcome the Lyoya family sought,' attorney Ven Johnson stated. 'We will continue to stand with the Lyoya family in their pursuit of truth, accountability and justice for Patrick, and are awaiting our day in civil court.' Womack praised Becker's work on the case and takes the prosecutor at his word that a guilty verdict would be difficult to achieve. 'I think the jury is reflective of the community, that we are split in half when it comes to this situation here in Grand Rapids,' Womack said. Womack added that he remains disappointed the case wasn't retried and wants to continue to fight for police reform in the city of Grand Rapids. Greater Grand Rapids NAACP President Cle Jackson and Urban League of West Michigan President Eric Brown feel differently. 'My initial reaction was anger. I'll be candid. It was anger then it moved to disappointment and devastation. I could not believe this was the decision he came to,' Brown said. They say Lyoya's family and the community deserved another chance. 'It's devastating. It's devastating. We had an opportunity to again to go back, retry and try to get it right. Patrick deserves that,' Jackson said. 'The Lyoya family deserves that opportunity to retry. Just like the ex-officer Schurr had an opportunity to due process.' 'We had the opportunity to get it right, didn't make it, but we had another opportunity to do even better, to try even harder. I think that was justice disserved,' Brown agreed. They argued the leader of Michigan State Police, the Grand Rapids police chief and the Grand Rapids city manager all should have been called to testify as expert witnesses, and questioned why a woman whose husband is a police officer was allowed to remain on the jury. Jackson and Brown say they have reached out to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, urging her to take up the case. Grand Rapids leaders promise 'commitment to police reforms' despite no Schurr retrial Womack said his goal now is to continue to fight for reforms to policing in West Michigan. 'This just gives us more motivation to fight for better police and community relations. That's only going to change with policies, training and laws being changed that will protect our community from incidents like this,' he said. Jackson, the NAACP president, noted the Grand Rapids Police Department did make some changes to policy after Lyoya's death, but said those changes don't have any teeth. 'There's no level of enforcement and oversight embedded in policy,' he said. In statements Thursday, Grand Rapids city leaders said they are committed to ongoing dialogue and reforms. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Christopher Schurr mistrial shows prompts questions about criminal justice system
After a deadlocked jury forced a mistrial in the recent second-degree murder trial of former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr, the prosecutor's decision to forgo a do-over of the trial leaves the family of the victim Patrick Lyoya to grieve without a verdict that might have brought them closure. Lyoya, a Congolese immigrant was stopped by Schurr in 2022 because his vehicle had bad plates. Schurr gave chase when Lyoya exited the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. The two engaged in a furious grappling match, and while Lyoya was face-down on the ground, Schurr claims that he shot Lyoya in the head because he feared for his life after Lyoya reached for the officer's taser. While many are frustrated by the mistrial, and subsequent decision to not retry the case, some have expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the jury's presumably thorough, careful deliberations. In a system established to administer criminal justice we can't ask for more, right? Wrong. More opinion: Christopher Schurr's murder trial ended in a hung jury. It still has value. There are many people of color and other people of good will who in the wake of this mistrial are speculating about whether there would have been a hung jury, or even whether the jury deliberations would have been careful and considered if the situation had been reversed. If an African immigrant had placed a pistol against the skull of a white police officer and pulled the trigger, would there have been a rush to conviction, or instead would a jury presume the defendant's innocence as the law requires and carefully consider all evidence and exculpatory defenses? We can't know with certainty how these jurors — 10 of them white, three Hispanic and one biracial — or any other predominantly white jury would react, but scientific findings provide a basis for unsettling questions. In a 2018 article published in the DePaul Journal for Social Justice, legal analyst Jonathan M. Warren explains: 'While issues of racial discrimination are a problem all their own, these issues are often compounded because of the lack of jury diversity. Many times, the jury pool looks much different than the defendant, as juries across America tend to be white and upper-middle class. Instead of being tried by a jury of one's peers, a defendant usually finds himself facing 'peers' with a higher economic class, lighter skin tone, different social background, and inability to truly empathize with the defendant's circumstances. This problem is pronounced with race, especially in regard to African-Americans. For example, one study found all-white juries convict black defendants 16% more often than white defendants. However, when at least one African-American was included in the jury pool, the racial conviction gap fell to nearly even.' This phenomenon is not a mystery. For generations this country has been conditioned to believe Black people are criminal by nature. Prior to the Civil War, free Blacks living in northern cities competed with white workers for jobs and other economic opportunities, and to justify campaigns to colonize them in Africa, lies were fabricated about the inherent criminality of Black people. During Reconstruction, when southern sheriffs determined they could make a profit from renting prisoners to plantation owners who lost their slave labor, they arrested Black people en masse amidst swirling lies about Black people's supposed rampant criminal conduct. Finally, Blacks who were defiant or 'uppity' were often accused of rapes and murders that never occurred, and then summarily killed by mobs. NAACP records reflect that between 1882 and 1968 there were 4,743 lynchings, with Blacks comprising 72% of the victims. In the modern era, police patrolling patterns are too often fueled by stereotypes of Black criminality and white innocence. Police often create self-fulfilling prophecies by looking for crime in Black communities – and finding it, while many crimes that occur with regularity in upscale white communities go undetected. What should be of concern to all is the fact that the presumption of criminality is a malignant phenomenon that has metastasized into other communities of color. Consider that all that is needed to prove gang membership and the need for a life sentence in a hell-hole prison in El Salvador is Latino heritage and tattoos. But racial dynamics are not the only factor to be considered. The fact that Schurr was a police officer complicates an already complicated situation. In his article, Warren explains: '…[T]he current composition of juries tends to be more favorable to the prosecution and police. One manifestation of this bias is through increased credibility of police testimony. Such unearned officer credibility creates an atmosphere of reduced scrutiny, as jurors are more willing to take an officer at her word without the necessary analysis, reasoning, and ultimate weighing of credibility. Less police scrutiny leads to problems for the judicial system, especially because police officers, like anyone, are not perfect.' The prosecutor has decided not to retry the Grand Rapids case, and the community must now move forward. In doing so perhaps all will be best served by remaining acutely aware that criminal proceedings that appear to be proper unavoidably occur against a historical and social backdrop that includes racial stereotypes and implicit biases that alternately favor and disfavor certain communities and law enforcement officers. Notwithstanding their best efforts to be fair and to render a just result, in America, no jury is immune. Mark P. Fancher is the staff attorney for the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Michigan. Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online and in print. Like what you're reading? Please consider supporting local journalism and getting unlimited digital access with a Detroit Free Press subscription. We depend on readers like you. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Christopher Schurr mistrial in Lyoya shooting has history | Opinion
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Schurr juror: One holdout kept former officer from being acquitted
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A member of the jury that couldn't reach a verdict in the Christopher Schurr murder trial said race never came up in the deliberations, that Schurr helped himself by taking the stand and that there was one main holdout that kept the former officer from being acquitted. That holdout, he told Target 8 in an exchange of emails, was the jury foreperson — the only Black jury member on the 12-person jury. Schurr's defense team confirmed that. The jury could not reach a verdict after four days and 21 hours of deliberations, leading to a . Prosecutor Chris Becker on Thursday announced he would not retry the case that has divided the community. Prosecutor will not retry Christopher Schurr in Patrick Lyoya's death Becker has said the jury voted 10-2 in favor of acquittal. The defense attorney said it was 11-1 for acquittal. In an exchange of emails with Target 8, a member of the jury wrote that the foreperson 'claimed there was no way that they could see Schurr actually fearing for his life' as he and Patrick Lyoya struggled over the officer's Taser. Schurr, who is white, encountered Lyoya, who is Black, during a traffic stop in April 2022. The juror, one of three men on the jury, said it wouldn't have made sense to retry Schurr, as 'they are going to have a real tough time finding 12 people who would unanimously vote guilty in Kent County based on majority demographics alone.' The 12-member jury was made up of nine women and three men. Ten were white, one Hispanic and one, the foreperson, was Black. The juror who spoke to Target 8 didn't want to be identified. 'Ultimately,' he wrote, 'I would like to avoid having my name or any personal information attached to this as I'm not looking for that kind of exposure.' GR leaders promise 'commitment to police reforms' despite no Schurr retrial The jury deliberated for parts of four days before announcing it couldn't reach a verdict on May 8 on either the murder charge or manslaughter. The juror said the final vote was either 11-1 or 10-2 for acquittal on the second-degree murder charge. 'We didn't even really discuss manslaughter much because of the fact (that) we couldn't agree on the primary charge,' the juror wrote. Either way, it led the judge to declare a mistrial. Target 8 tried talking to other members of the jury: some could not be reached, some declined comment and others did not respond to our requests for interviews. Sharpton wants feds to investigate Lyoya death The death of Patrick Lyoya led to marches and protests and visits by civil rights leaders, including Al Sharpton. But the juror said race was not part of the deliberations. 'For what it's worth,' he wrote, 'even with a diverse jury, the white/Black narrative was never something that was even considered in our conversations. It was more about the training/policies than potential political tension.' What comes next? Legal expert weighs in on Schurr mistrial Three members of the Grand Rapids Police Department, including two captains, testified that Schurr followed his training and department policies. The juror also wrote that the helped sway some. 'I do believe, based on being around all of the other jurors and with discussion with them throughout the trial, that Chris taking the stand provided clarity for some of those that remained on the fence about their vote,' he wrote. Schurr testified that he feared for his life as he and Lyoya fought over his Taser. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
