One of the most divisive, televised homicide trials has come to an end. That’s because the circumstances of this case had people teetering on the line of whether this was self-defense or unwarranted use of deadly violence.
Nicolae Miu, 54, was charged with the first-degree intentional homicide of Isaac Schuman, four counts of attempted homicide, and one count of battery, for his role in the 2022 stabbings in Apple River, Wisconsin. The prosecution argued that Miu, succumbing to his rage, was the chief aggressor, whereas the defense argued Miu took out his knife only because he feared for his safety, having been surrounded by 13 hostile individuals, some of whom were yelling some very nasty insults.
Responding to one Redditor OP who was of the opinion that this is a case of self-defense, one netizen replied:
Many people online defended Nicolae Miu should be acquitted. In fact, not long before the jury decided upon a verdict, Law&Crime’s livestream poll showed that more viewers were leaning towards a not guilty verdict.
Objectively speaking, there were fair arguments on both sides. Some of the witnesses showed themselves unreliable, showcasing many instances of memory inconsistencies. On top of that, it is undeniable, thanks to the video evidence, that Miu was antagonized and outnumbered. But would that be enough, after sitting through a week of testimony, and keeping Wisconsin law vividly in mind, for the jury to acquit Miu?
It didn’t take awfully long to reach a decision
On April 11, 2024, after six hours of deliberations, the jury came out with a verdict: Nicolae Miu is guilty on all six counts, not of intentional or attempted homicide, but of reckless homicide and endangerment, as well as the additional count of battery. In other words, because they were provided with the option, the jury found Miu guilty of lesser charges.
Even though some of the witnesses who took the stand during the 8 days of testimony showed themselves to have an unreliable memory at times, Nicolae did not help his own case when he made some conflicting and evasive statements both to police and on the stand.
Having noticed the unreliability of all parties in this messy case, one netizen wrote:
And indeed it ended up not being first-degree intentional homicide. At the end of the day, the jurors went with what they surely viewed as the most diplomatic route and unanimously agreed to convict Nicolae Miu of the lesser charges, even if those are almost certain to land him in prison. With his bail revoked, Miu is now back in jail awaiting his sentencing hearing, which is taking place sometime in the near future.