GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — State Representative James DeSana (R-Carleton) joined dozens in support of Christopher Schurr on the first day of his murder trial in Grand Rapids.
The Republican lawmaker held a press conference across the street from the Kent County Courthouse to highlight his new legislation, House Bill 4404, which aims to protect those who use or threaten to use deadly force in lawful self-defense from being targeted by civil lawsuits.
“Currently, defendants must still prove in civil court that their use of force was justified, even if cleared criminally,” DeSana said. “House Bill 4404 fixes this by creating a presumption of civil immunity after a favorable criminal outcome, shifting the burden onto the plaintiffs to prove otherwise. It also explicitly covers the threatened use of force people who might warn an attacker versus someone who just uses force without warning an attacker, which is not clearly protected under current law,”
According to DeSana, House Bill 4404 would make Michigan’s self-defense protections among the strongest in the U.S. If implemented, the change to the law would offer the defender recovery of legal fees such as attorney costs.
“While someone defending themselves has a moral responsibility to do what they possibly can before eliminating the threat, an ordered society must also defend those who, for the sake of their own life, for the sake of the lives of others, must act in a split second to use necessary force to stop their attackers,” DeSana said.
DeSana was joined by dozens of Schurr’s supporters, waving “Thin Blue Line” flags and holding signs with Schurr’s photo. Many supporters admitted to being related to current or retired law enforcement.
“I want to first of all, say that Christopher Schurr is an innocent man,” Adam de Angeli, founder of Coalition to Rescue Michigan, said, followed by echos of support from those nearby, “I want to applaud Representative Jim DeSantis for introducing his legislation to first off, expand the rights of those exercising their lawful use of self-defense by protecting them from civil penalties,”
The press conference concluded with repeated chants of “Justice for Schurr,” with opening statements in the trial beginning soon after.
Trial concludes for the day at 4:45 p.m.
News Channel 3 will have live courtroom footage available on YouTube, Facebook, and on our website with a 30-minute delay.
