A timeline of hearings, delays in trial of former Milwaukee officer Micheal Mattioli charged in death of Joel Acevedo
The long-delayed trial of a former Milwaukee police officer charged with murder while off-duty ended Friday.
Michael Mattioli was charged with first-degree reckless homicide in May 2020 for killing Joel Acevedo the morning after a house party. Since then, legal and pandemic related delays pushed the trial back numerous times.
More than three years later, Mattioli was found not guilty at the end of a five-day jury trial.
Here's a timeline of events that led to the trial:
April 19, 2020
Mattioli and Acevedo got into a fight the morning after a party, on April 19, 2020, that Mattioli hosted at his home. Mattioli accused Acevedo of stealing and the two eventually got into a physical altercation.
Mattioli told investigators afterward that, at one point, he held Acevedo down on the ground and “had him around his neck.” He then called 911, with some help from others in the house.
That call was placed at 7:28 a.m. Gasping, snorting and distressed breathing could be heard as Mattioli requested police assistance to dispatch. The first officers arrived 10 minutes later and found Mattioli on top of Acevedo. Mattioli released him 22 seconds after officers found them.
When the first officers arrived, one radioed for medical assistance and said Acevedo was “not conscious, not breathing, lips are turning blue,” according to heavily redacted body camera footage released by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Afterwards, Mattioli told investigators he “didn’t suffocate the guy. I had my arms around his neck, yes, and I held him there but I didn’t suffocate the guy, I didn’t press hard enough.”
He also said, “I’m not stupid … I know what’s deadly force and what’s not.”
Acevedo died six days later. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office declared the cause of death to be traumatic suffocation and ruled it a homicide.
More: Here's a fact sheet on police chokeholds and how they factor into the Michael Mattioli trial
May 13, 2020
Mattioli is charged with one felony count of first-degree reckless homicide in Milwaukee County. If convicted, Mattioli faced up to 40 years in prison and another 20 years on extended supervision.
September 2020
Mattioli enters a not guilty plea. The Journal Sentinel also learns that Mattioli had resigned from the MPD.
2021 hearings and delays
The case moved at a glacial pace in 2021. A lot of this was because of hearings, motions filed and requests to examine medical records.
In September, the case was transferred to Judge Glenn Yamahiro. In November, at the final in-court event of the year, a trial date was set for May 2022 with a final pre-trial conference scheduled for April 15, 2022.
More: Family of Joel Acevedo sues 2 former Milwaukee officers, ex-chief for wrongful death
April 22, 2022
A speedy trial is approved; however, the trial is rescheduled for Nov. 14, 2022, to accommodate the schedule of defense expert witnesses. A final pre-trial hearing was set for Sept. 29, 2022.
Oct. 10-28, 2022
After the pre-trial hearing was postponed to Oct. 10 and after the the case was transferred three times to different judges, the pre-trial hearing again is postponed — this time by the state because former Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Brian Peterson, who retired in 2022, didn't provide his availability for the trial. Despite numerous attempts to serve subpoenas, Peterson was unable to be reached.
Two weeks later, the state appears in court again and says that it's still unable to reach Peterson. The trial is rescheduled for June 2023 and transferred back to Yamahiro.
May 19, 2023
At the final pre-trial hearing, the trial is postponed to Nov. 6, 2023.
Nov. 6, 2023
The trial begins in Milwaukee County Circuit Court before Judge David Swanson.
In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffin urged jurors to "listen to all the evidence" in the case, including medical records that will show Acevedo died from loss of oxygen to the brain. He plans to argue that oxygen deprivation resulted from Mattioli's actions.
Defense attorney Craig S. Powell, of Milwaukee, said Acevedo had chronic heart and lung problems that more likely factored into his death. Acevedo and one of the other two men in the house had ingested cocaine after Mattioli had gone to bed for the night.
Mattioli was awakened later, after feeling Acevedo's hand in his pocket, thinking Acevedo was trying to steal from him.
Powell said his client yelled at Acevedo to get out of the house, and the altercation moved downstairs. Once downstairs, Acevedo slugged one of the other two men, then fell to the floor after losing his balance.
Mattioli got on top of Acevedo to control him, then called 911.
“Mr. Acevedo’s death was tragic ... but it was not a crime,” Powell said. "Mr. Mattioli's actions were reasonable. ... He was protecting himself and others from violence."
Nov. 7, 2023
The jury hears from two men who partied at Mattioli’s home that April 2020 night. They described Acevedo as the aggressor in the melee that later resulted in his own death.
Christopher Peters and Andrew Janowski are longtime friends who became acquainted with Acevedo through Mattioli; the pair met him a few weeks before the incident during the Shamrock Shuffle pub crawl in downtown Milwaukee.
A video of Mattioli speaking with investigator David E. Dalland was shown to jurors. A visibly irate Mattioli, his voice elevating and at times using profanities, admitted to Dalland he was intoxicated, but said it was attempting to arrest Acevedo because he tried to steal from him.
He asserted he never applied pressure that would have caused damage to Acevedo, and that his intent was to hold him until officers arrived.
"I did nothing wrong," Mattioli told the investigator.
Mattioli's demeanor softened slightly when Dalland told him Acevedo was alive at St. Luke's Hospital, but that the situation "is serious."
"I didn't intend to strangle the guy," Mattioli said. "I was just trying to arrest him."
Nov. 8, 2023
Acevedo's neck and chest showed signs of compression when he died, according to Milwaukee County's chief medical examiner, who ruled his death was a homicide.
Medical examiner Wieslawa Tlomak tells the jury Acevedo died of anoxic encephalopathy — or severe brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen. She said he also suffered cardiopulmonary arrest while at St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was taken following the April 19, 2020, fight with Mattioli.
Tlomak said Acevedo had compressions on his neck, chest and upper abdomen.
“This was an injury he couldn’t recover from,” Tlomak said.
Nov. 9, 2023
Mattioli takes the stand in his own defense. He testifies he accused Acevedo of trying to steal from him and that Acevedo refused to leave when asked to do so. He tells jurors he intended to restrain Acevedo until police arrived and denied choking him.
Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen, a former Milwaukee County Medical Examiner and pathologist, testifies Acevedo likely would have survived the encounter with Mattioli if he hadn’t had other medical conditions.
Pulmonary physician Dr. James Pearle says Acevedo had asthma, which can be aggravated by exercise or stress. He notes Acevedo underwent multiple trips to the hospital from 2016 to 2019 for respiratory distress. “His condition was a bad as it gets” for a man his age, Pearle says.
Dr. Jimmie Valentine, a clinical pharmacology and forensic toxicology consultant, testifies the volume of cocaine found in Acevedo’s body suggested he binged on the drug for several hours before his deadly fight with Mattioli. Valentine reviewed medical reports for Acevedo and also examined antemortem and post-mortem specimens, as well as a urine specimen that was collected when Acevedo was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital on April 19, 2020.
Nov. 10, 2023
Closing arguments are heard and Swanson gives jury instructions.
Before handing the case to the jury, Swanson grants a request by Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffin to allow jurors to also consider a lesser-included offense of second-degree reckless homicide in its deliberation, instead of first-degree reckless homicide.
Second-degree reckless homicide, a Class D felony, carries a punishment of 25 years imprisonment. State law says the main difference between first- and second-degree reckless homicide is that “utter disregard for human life" is a required element for first-degree.
After about 5½ hours of deliberations, the jury reaches a verdict of not guilty. An hour earlier, the jury had told Swanson it was deadlocked, but Swanson sent jurors back for more deliberations.
More: Ex-Milwaukee cop Michael Mattioli faces homicide charges. Here are the key figures in his trial
Drew Dawson can be reached at ddawson@jrn.com or 262-289-1324.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Timeline of hearings, delays in trial former Milwaukee police officer
