GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two years to the day after Patrick Lyoya was shot and killed by former Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr, his family continues to wait for justice for their son.
Ven Johnson, the Lyoya family's attorney, sids they fell abandoned by the legal system, with Schurr still walking free two years later. But another legal expert said this is just standard procedure in cases like this.
"They feel like the justice system has kind of just left them high and dry," said Johnson.
Johnson said he hopes to give the Lyoya family the justice for their son they've wanted for two years now.
But it could still take a while.
"It's really not that different from most cases of this magnitude," said Lewis Langham, a criminal law professor at Cooley Law School.
Langham said Schurr, as a former police officer, has certain protections an average person facing a murder charge doesn't.
"Police officers are acting in the course of their duty, they're responsible to go out and to enforce laws," said Langham. "Private citizens don't have that responsibility. So when two private citizens engage, something different is happening versus when a law enforcement officer is engaging with a private citizen."
Schurr's defense team has filed multiple appeals against the charges, including some to the Michigan Supreme Court, which continue to delay the trial, something Johnson is unhappy with.
"The longer they do that, the longer the trial doesn't go forward and the longer that Schurr is out of jail with his family," said Johnson. "So I understand what they're doing, I don't have to like it."
And with appeals still being heard, there's no telling when a trial may begin.
"There's no way to predict how quickly or not the Supreme Court will make a ruling," said Johnson.
But as frustration builds for some, Langham said he'd rather see things move slow instead of too quick.
"We don't rush through the criminal justice process," said Langham. "We want to get it right the first time, not the second or third time."
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