Nicolae Miu pre-trial hearing: Judge discusses procedures for Apple River stabbing case
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — A St. Croix County judge has discussed procedures for the jury trial involving a 54-year-old man accused in connection with a stabbing incident on the Apple River in July of 2022 that left four people injured and one dead.
Judge Michael Waterman held a pre-trial hearing March 1 for Nicolae Miu to discuss procedures for jury selection and media coverage, for example, and also made some rulings on evidence that will be presented at trial.
A two-week jury trial for Nicolae Miu of Prior Lake, Minnesota, will begin in St. Croix County Circuit Court on April 1 regarding four felony counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one felony count of first degree intentional homicide, and one misdemeanor count of battery.
Each of the counts includes the modifier of use of a dangerous weapon.
The process of jury selection when potential jurors are asked questions to determine whether they have any biases that might preclude them from sitting on the jury is a process known as “voir dire.”
Judge Waterman decided that he would take part in the process and would cover the meanings of reasonable doubt, burden of proof and self-defense.
Jury selection is not an opportunity to try the case or to push certain arguments, Judge Waterman said.
The prosecution and the defense attorneys should not cover any jury instructions during their part of voir dire. Those instructions should come from the bench, he said.
Self-defense
Judge Waterman said he was particularly interested in providing information about self-defense during the jury selection process since self-defense will most likely be an issue at trial.
After the judge has covered self-defense, burden of proof and reasonable doubt, then the prosecution and the defense attorneys can ask questions to the entire panel of 28 jurors, he said.
The prosecution and defense attorneys will not be allowed to do an “individualized” voir dire in which they ask the same questions of each juror, such as name, address, what they like to watch on television and what do they do in their spare time. The questions should be put to the jury panel as a whole, the judge said.
All together, 50 people will be called for jury selection for the Miu case, Judge Waterman said.
Since there will be supplemental jury questionnaires, a limited amount of time for voir dire is reasonable, he said, and asked the prosecution and defense what they thought was reasonable.
Aaron Nelson, one of the attorneys representing Miu, said he was thinking of 75 minutes.
Karl Anderson, St. Croix County District Attorney, said he was thinking of 45 minutes.
Judge Waterman said he had been thinking 60 minutes, so each side would have an hour for their part of voir dire.
The jury questionnaires will eliminate those people who are unable to serve on the jury or those who know any of the alleged victims or the defendant, Judge Waterman noted.
Jury selection is expected to take place the first morning of the trial, April 1, with opening arguments to begin after lunch.
The jury will have 12 members and two alternates.
Media coverage
There is intense public interest in this particular trial, but there is limited space in the courtroom, Judge Waterman said.
The trial will run Monday through Friday, from April 1 to April 12, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., he said.
Courthouse staff have been notified that, if necessary, court also will be held on Saturdays, he said.
Instead of Judge Waterman’s regular courtroom, the trial will be conducted in Courtroom No. 2 next door and not in Courtroom No. 4, the judge said.
No audio or video recordings by the general public will be allowed. One video camera may be allowed for credentialed media, Judge Waterman said.
Members of the general public will not be allowed to carry any signs or wear shirts or other clothing with slogans or sayings on them, and the general public will not be allowed to have any communication with jurors, he said.
Judge Waterman said he had been in contact with the media coordinator for District 10 but that he had not yet made a decision about cameras in the courtroom.
Nelson asked whether the trial would be live-streamed over the internet.
At this point, previous hearings for the Miu case have been live-streamed from Judge Waterman’s courtroom.
The judge said he was “disinclined” to have the jury trial live-streamed because it would result in too much distraction for him and for the court staff.
There is intense public interest in the trial, but the defendant also has a right to a fair trial, and sometimes there are conflicting interests, Judge Waterman said.
Evidence
A variety of body camera videos were produced in the case, but Anderson said he did not intend to enter all of them as evidence.
The interviews could all be put on one flash drive, or each interview could have its own separate flash drive, he said.
There are 154 interviews, and that does not include the video footage that was taken during the incident, Nelson said.
Judge Waterman said he did not want 200 flash drives with evidence on them because that “would be a recipe” for flash drives being lost, corrupted or mislabeled.
There is the potential for 154, but probably 10 or 20 will be used by the defense, Nelson said.
Video
The judge must see the video taken during the incident because a picture is worth a thousand words, Nelson said.
The video could never be adequately described with words, Anderson said, noting that the file should be put under seal and that he did not plan to play the video during his opening statements.
Anderson said he would edit the video to be mute at a certain point.
There is a point on the video where there is no more information that is related to Counts 1 to 6, Nelson said.
There is a visual aspect to the video as well because the water turns red in a certain area, but the audio is the biggest concern, he said.
After a certain point in the video, the video can be described, and the defense and the prosecution can agree to the facts presented, Nelson said.
So after a certain point, the video should not be played or should be muted, Judge Waterman said, adding that he would want the video the morning of the trial so he could review it during a break or during the lunch break and then make a ruling on it.
The video must be reviewed frame by frame because it is disjointed, and the camera is bouncing in all directions, Nelson said.
Anderson agreed the video is disjointed and difficult to follow.
Nelson said he would send the judge a letter about the judge defining self defense in voir dire and would describe the frames of the video in a factual way. Then it can be discussed whether the judge watches the video before jury instructions.
Judge Waterman said he would review the video under seal and would do the review before the jury instructions.
Interview
Nelson said he also was concerned about the interview conducted by Brandie Hart.
Hart is a lieutenant with the special services division of the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department who testified at an earlier court hearing that she had been called in to work after the Apple River incident and had interviewed Miu and reviewed Miu’s Miranda rights with him.
The judge has denied the motion to suppress the interview, so Nelson said he wanted the entire tape played.
Anderson said he intended to mute the part of the interview where Miu says that he has never been in trouble before.
Past criminal history cannot be brought into the case, Anderson said.
Nelson said he was worried that by muting the tape or cutting out that part of it, that the jury or the general public would conclude there was something to suppress.
If that part of the interview is not allowed to play, then people could believe Miu’s attorney kept it out, and there will be a negative inference about what that might imply, Nelson said.
The defendant saying he had “never been in trouble before” does not indicate anything about whether he is a peaceful person. Character witnesses are needed to establish peacefulness, Judge Waterman noted.
Nelson also was concerned about calls and texts from Miu originating from the jail that covered “thousands of pages.”
Each side has an obligation to prepare for trial, the judge said, adding that he did not want “any surprises” at trial and that he would rule on particular situations if they come up at trial.
Another court hearing about the case is scheduled for March 6 in St. Croix County Circuit Court.
