Miu trial: Acquitted on 1st degree intentional homicide but guilty of 1st degree reckless homicide
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — Nicolae Miu has been acquitted of first degree intentional homicide and first degree attempted intentional homicide, but has been found guilty on lesser charges of first degree reckless homicide and first degree recklessly endangering safety.
The 54-year-old man from Prior Lake, Minnesota, was charged in connection with a stabbing incident on the Apple River July 30, 2022, in which 17-year-old Isaac Schuman from Stillwater died and four other people — A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson, Anthony Carlson and Ryhley Mattison — were injured.
The jury came back with a verdict in St. Croix County Circuit Court shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, April 11, after deliberating for about seven hours all together.
In addition to the other charges, Miu was found guilty of misdemeanor battery to Madison Coen.
The case was handed to the jury on Wednesday, April 10, at 12:30 p.m. At around 4:30 p.m., after deliberating for about four hours, the jury asked to adjourn for the day.
The case went to the jury following seven days of testimony from victims and witnesses.
Miu also took the witness stand in his own defense.
Closing arguments were presented Wednesday morning.
The lesser charges of second degree intentional homicide, first or second degree reckless homicide, first or second degree attempted reckless homicide and first or second degree recklessly endangering safety were added before the prosecution and defense attorneys gave their closing arguments.
Judge Michael Waterman spent an hour and a half Wednesday morning giving the jury instructions on how to consider the various charges.
All of the charges also carried the modifier of using a dangerous weapon.
Homicide
First degree intentional homicide is a Class A felony in Wisconsin that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
First degree reckless homicide in Wisconsin is a Class B felony which carries a possible penalty of up to 60 years in prison.
First degree recklessly endangering safety is a Class F felony that carries a possible penalty of a fine of up to $25,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 12 years and six months.
Analysts said that the jury would have had to find Miu not guilty of first degree intentional homicide and not guilty of second degree intentional homicide before moving on to the charge of first degree reckless homicide.
The same is true for the other charges.
The jury would have had to find Miu not guilty of first degree attempted intentional homicide and not guilty of second degree attempted intentional homicide before moving on to the charge of first degree recklessly endangering safety.
Analysts also noted that adding lesser charges prior to closing arguments is not unusual in criminal cases.
Because this was a criminal trial, the 12-person jury was required to reach a unanimous verdict.
Judge Waterman polled the jury after they returned to the courtroom, and each member of the jury affirmed his or her verdict.
The judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation and said sentencing would be scheduled at a later date.
Judge Waterman revoked the $1 million cash bond set for Miu on August 1, 2022.
Nicolae Miu has been in custody at the St. Croix County jail since he was arrested on July 30, 2022.
What happened
On the afternoon of July 30, 2022, Nicolae Miu was tubing on the Apple River with friends and family and had left his group to look for a cell phone that his friend had accidentally dropped into the river.
When he was a teenager, Miu was a refugee from Romania, along with other family members. He speaks five languages, has a degree in mathematics and is a mechanical engineer.
He had a snorkel and goggles with him that day on the river, which he used to look for the lost cell phone.
A group of six underage 17-year-olds across the river who had been drinking and smoking marijuana immediately accused Miu of being “a raper” and a pedophile who was “looking for little girls” when he approached the group.
No testimony was given and no evidence was presented as to why the group of young men came to the conclusion Miu was a rapist and a pedophile.
The group of young men were laughing and yelling at Miu. One of the group members, Jawahn Cockfield, began videotaping the group of young men laughing and jeering at an older man.
In the video, Cockfield can be heard yelling “for the culture” multiple times, which means he was videotaping the young men abusing Miu so that he could post the video on social media.
The raucous yelling at Miu attracted the attention of another group of people on the river who were in their 20s and who came over to yell at Miu as well and tell him to go away, even though they had no information about Miu and whether he posed a threat to anyone.
At this point there were 13 people, many of them yelling at Miu and calling him “a raper” and “a pedophile.”
Miu, who several people testified always carried a pocket knife with him to cut strings or to open packages or for anything else you can think of, was hit and knocked down into the river several times and appeared to be surrounded by an angry mob of people yelling at him.
Miu fatally stabbed Schuman and stabbed the other four victims before going back across the river to his own group. Members of his group had been too far away to see or hear exactly what was happening.
A still photo was taken off the video shot on the river, and the photo helped law enforcement officers identify Nicolae Miu as the suspect.
Members of his group said he looked white and like he was in shock when he came back across the river and said he did not talk very much after that.
Later that day, during an interview with St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Brandie Hart, Miu said more than 20 times in the interview that he had acted in self defense although he did lie to investigators about having a knife of his own and had lied by saying the young men in the group had knives. He was unaware that there was a videotape of the incident.
Miu threw his knife onto the river bank before going back to his own group of friends and family.
Miu’s wife, Sandy, did file for a divorce, and the divorce was final before the trial started April 1. Defense attorneys said she had filed for a divorce for legal reasons and to protect financial assets.
Miu’s defense attorneys also noted that on the witness stand, Mrs. Miu said she still loved her husband.
Of the five people who were stabbed, only one of them, Isaac Schuman, was a member of the original group of teenagers who were yelling “raper” and “pedophile” at Nicolae Miu.
Prosecution
During his closing argument, St. Croix County District Attorney Karl Anderson said that Miu committed senseless and horrific acts of violence and that “all he had to do was walk away.”
Miu had testified that he was “standing his ground,” but Wisconsin is not a stand-your-ground state, Anderson said.
It should be noted that while Wisconsin is not a stand-your-ground state, there also is no duty for someone who feels threatened to retreat.
Anderson said he was not going to defend “the boys” because what they had done “was cruel.”
But the actions of the boys did not justify Miu’s actions, Anderson said.
During the questioning of witnesses in earlier testimony, the district attorney had said that everyone knows the Apple River “is a party scene.”
Isaac Schuman was an honor student who was looking forward to going to college, he said.
At the time of autopsy, Issac Schuman’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit . Other young men in the group testified that they had been drinking “beers and seltzers,” that someone had brought vodka and that they had been smoking marijuana, although Isaac Schuman had apparently not smoked any marijuana that afternoon.
Law enforcement officers told the young men that “they were not in trouble,” and they were not cited for underage drinking or for possession of marijuana. The person who supplied them with the alcohol apparently also has not been cited.
Defense attorneys said that the young men were football players on their high school team, and during testimony, at least two of the young men said they are college athletes.
Two against two
The situation was not a matter of 13 against one, but more of a matter of two against two, between Miu’s friend, who had lost his cell phone and who had come from the other side of the river. At that point, it was the two of them facing the two women, District Attorney Anderson said.
Witnesses testified that the two women, Ryhley Mattison and Madison Coen, “were in Miu’s face.”
One of women had pushed Miu, and Miu had told her not to put her hands on him.
Nothing was preventing Miu from leaving, Anderson said.
The length of the video is just around two minutes, and the scene is so chaotic and noisy that it is difficult to tell what is happening and who is talking. Both the prosecution and the defense used still photographs taken from the video.
While the other young men are mocking and jeering, Isaac Schuman is standing in the background not doing anything, Anderson said.
In one of the still photographs, Isaac Schuman’s hands are around Miu’s neck.
It is a mischaracterization to say Miu is being choked. Issac Schuman came to the aid of the others, Anderson said.
Even if it was strangulation, it was justified, because Isaac Schuman had just seen two people get stabbed, he said.
One of the stabbing victims, Ryhley Mattison, said she did not know she had been stabbed at first and thought she had just been punched.
At one point, Miu turned his back, and “you don’t do that if you are afraid,” Anderson said, adding that Miu was angry and not afraid.
Two members of Miu’s group were concerned about him going to the look for the phone, and the owner of the cell phone said he did not care about the phone, the district attorney said.
Clearly Miu “was not looking for little girls,” but he could not give up on being insulted, Anderson said.
Miu said he saw the young man with the phone and wondered if it was his friend’s phone, but there were many phones in cases on the river, he said.
Miu also could have held up the knife and told the group of young men he had a knife, Anderson said.
“The whole thing would have ended if he had displayed the knife,” he said.
Punch vs. slap
Madison Coen told investigators that Miu had “punched” her and that she “felt a heartbeat in her face” afterwards. She also deleted photos from her phone that she said she had taken that day, and investigators told her not to worry about it, Anderson said.
One issue brought up during the questioning of witnesses is whether Miu “punched” Madison Coen after she touched him or whether he “slapped” Madison Coen.
Wisconsin is not a stand-your-ground state, and there is no duty to retreat. People were pointing and laughing and yelling, but no amount of force was necessary, and Miu only had to walk away, Anderson said.
The defense has no reasonable argument. Miu was not justified in self defense, and Miu knew it, he said.
Miu had an intent to kill others, and “but for outside circumstances,” such as medical treatment, the other victims were lucky to be alive, Anderson said.
Miu testified that he had “tunnel vision” during the incident and that he said he thought anyone who was touching him was attacking him, but he did not attack his friend when he walked up to him, the district attorney said.
It was not clear whether Anderson meant that Miu’s friend had touched Miu after he came across the river.
The jury must consider how a reasonable person would behave, Anderson said.
Miu walks back to his group, “plays dumb,” and when Sheriff Knudson is talking to him after Miu is taken into custody, he acts like he does not know what is going on. He slinks away, plays dumb and then makes up a story, the district attorney said.
Miu could have just walked away or raised the knife, Anderson said.
There is nothing inherently wrong with carrying a knife to use as a tool or to keep for self defense, but Miu was not justified in self defense, he said.
Defense
Miu was represented by attorneys Aaron Nelson and Corey Chirafisi.
Nelson gave the opening argument. Chirafisi gave the closing argument.
A group of drunk teenagers, led by Jawahn Cockfield, tormented a man who was by himself, and they did it for no legitimate purpose, Chirafisi said.
They attracted the attention of another group, and six drunk teenagers quickly turned into 13, and it was 13 against one, he said.
They “got in his face,” they screamed at him, they swore at him, they circled him and they laughed at him. And at this point, he has done nothing to them, Chirafisi said.
When Miu tried to create space — they pounced. They hit, they slap, they yell, they scream. And Nicolae Miu acts in self defense, he said.
Chirafisi also noted that there is no duty to retreat.
“Bullies like Madison Coen” do not get to tell us where to go. They do not have a right to “get in our face” and tell us to leave, Chirafisi said.
Consider the evidence, and consider the beliefs of Miu, not his actions, but consider what happened from his perspective at the time it was happening, Miu’s attorney said.
The state has to “jump a hurdle” and prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, Chirafisi said.
Nicolae Miu does not have to prove that he acted in self defense. The prosecution has to prove he did not act in self defense and must prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.
The father of Dante Carlson and Anthony Carlson, who were both injured, testified that he had sent his sons over there to help the older man because he was afraid for the older man’s safety.
Fear
At the beginning of the video, before the attack, the young men testified that they were afraid of Miu when he approached them. They could not give any reason why they were afraid of him.
The teenagers who are taunting him do not look like they are afraid. They are laughing and yelling, and the teenagers testified that as more people came over, they said they felt less fear, Chirafisi said.
They wanted to see what would happen. As Jawahn Cockfield put it, “for the culture,” to post the video on the internet so others could see what they had done, he said.
If you are afraid of someone, do you taunt him, call him names, and then circle around him? Or are they drunk teenagers who want to make a video to put on the internet? Chirafisi asked.
The teenagers said Miu was “looking for little girls.” Anderson said the teenagers did not invent that — but “they did invent that,” he said.
There were zero statements made to the police that Miu said he was looking for little girls, Chirafisi said.
One of the investigators said if any of the teenagers had said that Miu was looking for little girls, the investigator would have paid attention, the attorney said.
If they pick out a guy and torment him and call him a “raper” and a “pedophile” and they “say it was for kicks,” what do you think of those kinds of people? Chirafisi asked the jury.
How likely is it that some random person would walk up to a group of teenagers, and the teenagers say, “Hi, how’s your day going,” and he replies, “I’m looking for little girls,” Chirafisi said.
Miu was with his wife. He’d had lunch with his wife. He was with friends. Do you think he is going to say to himself, “I’m going to tell a bunch of drunk teenagers that I’m looking for little girls?” Chirafisi said.
Phone
Miu is looking for a phone. Jawahn Cockfield is holding a phone. Miu sees what he believes is a rational adult, Madison Coen, but Madison Coen screams at him to leave, Chirafisi said.
She feels comfortable enough to put her hands on him because apparently “she is queen of the river” and she decides where people should go, the defense attorney said.
The teenagers “are brave.” They taunt a man who has done nothing to them. Ryhley Mattison has been “anointed,” somehow, and then puts her hands on Nicolae Miu because she feels justified in touching him. Coen touches him again. Miu says not to touch him. And now it is 13 against one, Chirafisi said.
One member of the brave group tells Miu “you’ve got 10 seconds,” the defense attorney said.
Parents use that kind of a phrase with children. “You’ve got 10 seconds,” with the implication that there is an “or else,” Chirafisi said.
It was reasonable for Nicolae Miu to take that as a threat, he said.
The rest of the group blamed it all on the one person who is not here to tell his story, Isaac Schuman. The rest of the group blamed him and said, “not me,” “not me,” “not me,” Chirafisi said.
And why does it matter? Miu’s belief is that there will be an interference with his person. The question is — does he believe there will be an imminent unlawful interference with his person? he asked.
For the culture
Jawahn Cockfield gleefully repeated “for the culture,” “for the culture.” The teenagers gleefully and loudly said Nicolae Miu was looking for little girls. They were raucous, yelling and laughing, Chirafisi said.
People in stressful situations do not do everything perfectly. Madison Coen said Miu had punched her with his left hand to her left cheek. When asked how that was possible, she said she gets left and right mixed up, and people can get their left and right mixed up. But how is it that she does not remember “a heartbeat in her cheek,” he said.
Madison Coen’s sunglasses were not broken. There was no mark on her face. There was no redness or swelling on her face. There was no bruising or marks. An investigator saw her right afterward and said there was no mark. If there had been a mark, then the investigator said he would have taken a photo, Chirafisi said.
Madison Coen does not drop her drink, or her vape, or her cell phone. Is that what happens when a 250-pound man squares up and punches a woman? he asked.
What makes sense in your everyday experience? Chirafisi asked the jury.
Madison Coen said she took photos on her cell phone. Then she said she deleted them — she deleted photos that were important to a homicide case. Investigators tell her “that’s okay,” and they do a forensic analysis of her phone. But no deleted photos were found on her phone. Investigators reach out to Madison’s mother, but Madison did not send her mother any of the photos she said had taken, he said.
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No duty to retreat
Nicolae Miu had no duty to retreat. And where was he going to go? The loudest voice on the river does not get to tell someone where they can be, Chirafisi said.
Nick Miu did not have to leave. The drunk teenagers could have left. They did not leave. They wanted to see the show, he said.
Miu has nowhere to go, and the bully does not get to decide, Chirafisi said.
The prosecutor used many stills taken from the video. Each still photograph represents 1/24th of a second. No one lives their life in increments of 1/24th of a second, he said.
In the last 14 seconds of the video, Miu believes he would suffer serious bodily injury, Chirafisi said.
Anthony and Dante Carlson are asked by their dad to go over to help Miu. Tony is yelling “stop,” and Nick Miu is in the water, he said.
Jawahn Cockfield is cackling. He thought it was very funny that Nicolae Miu was getting slapped and knocked down. Consider a 250-pound man knocked off his feet and back into the water from being punched, Chirafisi said.
There are multiple people coming from all sides, and Nick Miu is terrified about what is going on. When A.J. Martin testified, he said, “He got me before I got him.” What does that tell you about A.J. Martin’s intent? Chirafisi asked.
Martin testified that he had put his hand on Miu’s shoulder when Miu was down in the water to hold him there so Martin could try to diffuse the situation. Someone else put his hands on Miu’s back at the same time.
Miu was attacked by multiple people. The jury must find him not guilty of all charges if you find Nick Miu believed there was an imminent unlawful interference with his person, and if he believed the amount of force was necessary to stop the threat, Chirafisi said.
The jury has to decide if Miu did what he had to do to survive. Or did Nicolae Miu, who has never had so much as a speeding ticket, and who was out with his wife and friends, floating on the river — did Miu all of a sudden that day decide “I’m going to start stabbing people,” he said.
District Attorney Anderson had said if Miu was afraid, he would have left. But Nick Miu believed he did what he did to stop the interference, Chirafisi said.
Self defense
During the interview with Brandie Hart, Miu put his head in his hands at one point and said, “my life is over,” and Lieutenant Hart said “maybe not if it was self defense.” Hart has been an officer for 25 years and said she would have been scared in that situation, Chirafisi said.
What is Miu’s mental purpose? To kill Isaac Schuman? Or is it to get someone off him? Did he have an intention to kill Isaac? The prosecution said it was intentional, but now the prosecution says “maybe not; it could be reckless,” Chirafisi said.
District Attorney Anderson said “but for medical intervention, they would have died.” But if Miu wanted to kill them, then why didn’t he? he asked, noting that Miu did not try to stab people multiple times.
You do not have to let someone beat you before you respond, Chirafisi said.
Nicolae Miu lied about having the knife. He admits that he lied about having the knife. But he has never wavered on saying it was self defense. Brandie Hart said he never wavered on saying it was self defense, and that Nicolae Miu said it over 20 times in the interview, he said.
Miu was not telling the truth about the knife, but the video is not subject to change. Miu was in fear and shock. He was wide-eyed and white. His lie about the knife does not change one thing on the video, Chirafisi said.
The jury should feel sympathy for Isaac Schuman and his family, but the jury cannot decide the case on sympathy. The jury must decide the case on facts and evidence, he said.
The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. That means a doubt for which a reason can be given, and that reason is self defense. If the jury believes it is self defense, Miu is not guilty. If the jury believes it probably was self defense or could have possibly been self defense or maybe was self defense, or might have been self defense, then the jury must find Nicolae Miu not guilty, Chirafisi said.
The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not self defense. Nicolae Miu does not have to prove that he is innocent, the defense attorney said.
Chirafisi thanked the jury for their time and for their attention and said that he knew after all of their hard work, they would want to go home.
He asked the jury to send Nicolae Miu home and find him not guilty.
