Ex-officer’s appeal in Patrick Lyoya civil suit dismissed

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A federal appeals court has dismissed a former Grand Rapids police officer’s appeal in the civil case filed by the family of a man he shot and killed in 2022.

In a 10-page decision issued Monday, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dismissed Christopher Schurr’s appeal, citing “lack of appellate jurisdiction.” The ruling means the lawsuit will continue to move forward.

Patrick Lyoya’s family sued Schurr and the city of Grand Rapids in December 2022, alleging excessive force and a violation of Lyoya’s Fourth Amendment rights when he was shot April 4, 2022 , after Schurr, then a Grand Rapids Police Department officer, pulled him over. The lawsuit argued it was “objectively unreasonable” for Schurr to have shot Lyoya.

Attempting to get the lawsuit tossed, Schurr’s attorneys argued he is protected by qualified immunity , which, generally speaking, prevents officers from being sued for actions they took in the line of duty.

The Court of Appeals did not make a decision about whether or not Schurr is protected by qualified immunity, instead indicating what is in dispute now is both sides’ version of events of the day Lyoya died. It said it does not have jurisdiction to settle a factual dispute.

The city of Grand Rapids was previously removed from the Lyoya family’s lawsuit, but the family’s attorneys were attempting to get it added again .

Schurr has been charged criminally with second-degree murder in Lyoya’s death. No one disputes that Schurr killed Lyoya. The legal question is whether it was murder, with the prosecutor saying Schurr was not justified in shooting Lyoya and Schurr arguing he acted in self-defense. He has been was ordered to stand trial, but is working to appeal that ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court .

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