A taser expert testified Tuesday in the murder trial of a former Grand Rapids police officer that his taser could have been used against him in a struggle that led to the killing of Patrick Lyoya, lending credibility to the self-defense argument put forward by attorneys for Christopher Schurr.
Schurr is on trial for second-degree murder for shooting Lyoya in the back of the head after a struggle during a traffic stop, while he was on patrol for GRPD.
But while one expert testified the taser was still capable of harming Schurr in the incident, another expert, who trains police on use of force, said Schurr still wasn’t justified in shooting Lyoya.
Schurr’s attorneys argue Schurr was justified in the killing because Schurr feared for his life in the seconds before he shot Lyoya.
Videos of the incident shows Lyoya grab at Schurr’s taser during the struggle. On the first day of the trial, witnesses to the incident said they believed Lyoya was trying to deflect the taser, not to use it against Schurr.
But on Tuesday, the trial’s second day, jurors heard from an expert who works at the company that manufactures the taser in the incident, who examined the taser after the shooting.
Bryan Chiles leads forensic analysis at Axon. He told jurors Schurr’s taser fired twice during the struggle, but hit no one. After that, the taser had no remaining charges left.
But he said the taser could still be used to “drive-stun” someone by being pressed against the body directly. Chiles said drive-stun would not lead to “neuromuscular incapacitation” or NMI, but it would cause pain.
Additionally, Chiles said the taser probes and wires could still tase either Schurr or Lyoya if they fell on top of the discharged probes while the taser trigger was pressed.
“Do you think that even with both cartridges deployed, five seconds passes, that the taser still deserved its classification as a serious weapon?” asked Mark Dodge, an attorney on Schurr’s defense team.
“Yes,” Chiles said.
He said the taser’s drive-stun could cause damage if used on a person’s eyes, neck or groin. And he said it was possible if Schurr landed on a probe and experienced incapacitation, he could lose control of his gun.
“That’s fair to say if they were under the effects of NMI, they can’t defend themselves or their equipment,” Chiles said.
Later in the afternoon, jurors heard from a different expert who contradicted Chiles, not on the capabilities of the weapon, but on the relative risk it posed in the moment Schurr shot Lyoya.
Seth Stoughton is a law professor at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer. He said he teaches courses on police use of force. He told jurors no reasonable officer acting on general police practices would have shot Lyoya in the incident.
“Look, I drive-stun myself every time I teach Police, Law and Policy when I teach a case on tasers," Stoughton said when asked whether a taser in drive-stun would be dangerous to Schurr. "No, it's not incapacitating."
Stoughton said he reviewed videos of the traffic stop, the struggle and the shooting. He said Schurr made a mistake when he initially chased Lyoya past his vehicle when a passenger was still inside.
And Stoughton said he didn’t believe Schurr faced an imminent threat from Lyoya at the time he shot him. Schurr was on top of Lyoya at the time, with Lyoya facing away, and Schurr had the tactical advantage during the entire struggle, Stoughton testified.
Stoughton said it was possible, but highly unlikely that Lyoya could have incapacitated Schurr with the taser to take his gun away.
"While I think it is at least theoretically plausible that that could happen, it seems unlikely," Stoughton said, "which might be why, going back to the history of the introduction of taser use, that has never happened in American policing, or internationally, that I'm aware of. So I think it is theoretically possible."
"I'm sorry did you say it's never happened that an officer has been tased?" asked Matt Borgula, an attorney for Schurr.
"No," Stoughton said. "An officer has never been tased, incapacitated, had their weapon removed, and killed with it."
The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday.
