Two-week trial scheduled for April 2024 in Apple River stabbing
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — A two-week trial has been scheduled in April of 2024 for the 53-year-old suspect charged in connection with a stabbing incident on the Apple River last July that left four injured and one dead.
Nicolae Miu appeared in St. Croix County Circuit Court April 14 with one of his attorneys, Aaron Nelson, before Judge Michael R. Waterman for a motion hearing on suppressing statements.
Miu also is represented by Attorney Corey Chirafisi.
Toward the end of the hearing, Nelson asked that the matter be scheduled for a jury trial, and a two-week trial was subsequently scheduled for April of 2024.
Motion
St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson testified during the motion hearing that on the day of the Apple River stabbing, July 30, 2022, he had not been working but was called in by a patrol sergeant who said there had been a stabbing on the river and that the suspect was still at large.
By the time Sheriff Knudson had reached the Sunrise Bridge, the suspect had been located.
Sheriff Knudson testified that Miu had been placed in a squad vehicle and that he had checked on Miu to make sure he was doing all right since it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
The sheriff said he had not been planning to interview Miu but that his interaction with Miu was recorded on his body camera.
When Nelson asked Sheriff Knudson if Miu had asked for a lawyer, the sheriff said he did not recall.
Nelson said that the body camera recording showed that another deputy had said Miu had asked about a lawyer and that the deputy said he had told Miu he could call a lawyer but that a lawyer would not be waiting for him at the jail when Miu arrived.
Admin code
Telling Miu that a lawyer would not be waiting for him was a mis-statement of the law, Nelson said, and asked about Sheriff Knudson’s knowledge of the law.
District Attorney Karl Anderson objected to Nelson’s question, and the court sustained the objection.
Questions about the law will not be put to witnesses, and the court will decide how to interpret the law, Judge Waterman said.
Nelson said he was attempting to establish facts, and the judge asked how Wisconsin administrative code and a request for a lawyer would be relevant.
The right to a lawyer is related to Miu’s Miranda rights, Nelson said.
The Miranda warning informs suspects of their right to remain silent, that anything they say can and will be used against them in a court of law, that they have a right to an attorney, and that if suspects cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for them.
Judge Waterman told Nelson to proceed with making his record.
Nelson said a Polk County deputy was at the scene and had initially taken Miu into custody.
According to the Polk County deputy’s report, Miu had asked if there would be a lawyer at the jail, Nelson said.
Interview
Brandie Hart, a lieutenant with the special services division of the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, testified she had been called in to work after the Apple River incident and had interviewed Miu and reviewed Miu’s Miranda rights with him and asked him to sign the form indicating that he understood his rights.
Miu had told Lt. Hart that his wife would find an attorney, and he did not ask to use the telephone during the interview, Lt. Hart said.
Miu did not stop the interview and did not ask for a lawyer to be present, she said.
Lt. Hart said she had indicated to Miu that a public defender would be available on Monday.
When asked by District Attorney Anderson about public defenders meeting with inmates, Lt. Hart said the public defenders usually meet with defendants on weekdays and not on weekends.
Lt. Hart also testified that she had told Miu that it was up to him whether he wanted to answer questions.
Nelson said Miu had interrupted the reading of the Miranda form to ask when an attorney would be assigned to him and that Lt. Hart had said Monday at the soonest.
July 30 was a Saturday.
When Nelson asked if Lt. Hart knew the public defender’s code, Lt. Hart said she did not.
Nelson said the lieutenant had not told Miu that if he wanted to contact the public defender’s office, contact could be provided, and that Lt. Hart did not give Miu contact information.
The Wisconsin Administrative Code to which Nelson was referring is PD 2.03, which states that a public defender or a county designee [a private attorney not employed by the public defender’s office but who has been assigned a public defender case] will be available 24 hours per day, including weekends and legal holidays. The defendant will have immediate access by phone or in person to determine if a defendant is eligible to be represented by a public defender.
The administrative code also states that if a public defender initially represents a defendant and it is later determined the defendant does not qualify, the defendant will be responsible for paying the public defender’s fees for the initial representation.
Exhibits
Nelson asked Judge Waterman to temporarily seal the evidence entered into the record for 10 days.
The judge said he would allow the transcripts of interviews and video evidence to be sealed for 10 days to allow Miu’s attorneys time to explain why the exhibits should be sealed for a longer time period.
Judge Waterman set a deadline of June 1 for the district attorney’s office to respond to the motion to suppress statements and set a deadline of July 3 for Miu’s attorneys to respond to the district attorney. The reply by the district attorney’s office is due by July 17.
Judge Waterman said he would decide later whether he would issue a written response to the motion or whether he would give an oral response.
At the time of the April 14 court hearing, Miu remained in custody at the St. Croix County jail.
Bail was set for Miu at $1 million cash on August 1, 2022.
