MILWAUKEE — A long-awaited homicide trial is set to begin this week for a former Milwaukee Police officer. Michael Mattioli is accused of killing Joel Acevedo in the spring of 2020 while he was off duty.
For three and a half years, Maribel and Jose Acevedo have been pleading for answers and accountability.
“He had this energy and this smile about him that just lit up the room,” Maribel Acevedo told TMJ4 is June 2020. “It feels like a big piece of my heart is gone.”
Prosecutors say their 25-year-old son Joel Acevedo was at a party at Mattioli’s home in April of 2020.
Court records show Mattioli told police he woke up the next morning and found Acevedo going through his pant pockets.
Prosecutors say Mattioli put Acevedo in a choke-hold for several minutes after an argument. Acevedo died six days later in the hospital.
Mattioli was charged with first degree reckless homicide after Acevedo’s death. He resigned from the Milwaukee Police Department several months later.
Jonathan LaVoy is a criminal defense attorney who isn’t affiliated with this case. He’s providing legal analysis for TMJ4 throughout the trial.
“What makes this a high profile case?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“I think the George Floyd issue really exacerbated this whole issue of choke-holds and police using restraint on individuals and it’s just such a tragic situation,” LaVoy replied.
LaVoy says it’s taken such a long time for this case to get to trial for two reasons. The Covid crisis caused significant delays in Milwaukee County’s court system as well as an untimely retirement for a key witness, the former Milwaukee County medical examiner.
“What do you think will be the key piece of evidence in this trial?” Jordan asked.
“This case is not going to be like a self defense type of defense,” LaVoy said. “It’s going to be about cause of death. The prosecution’s going to say that this was an asphyxiation based on the choke-hold that caused an inability to breathe. The defense is going to say that this was a combination of some type of medical issue combined with the use of drugs and alcohol that may have been unforeseen by Mr. Mattioli.”
Second to that testimony about the cause of death, LaVoy thinks unedited body camera footage showing the perspective of officers arriving to the scene that day will be a crucial piece of evidence as well.
“If you were Mattioli’s defense, would you have him take the stand?” Jordan asked.
“I think having him testify is going to be crucial for a defense in this case because he’s going to have to explain to the jury why he did what he did and what was going through his mind,” LaVoy replied.
Jury selection is set to begin on Monday. The trial is expected to last one to two weeks.
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