Former MPD Officer Mattioli trial, Acevedo family continues to wait

MILWAUKEE - Former Milwaukee Police Officer Michael Mattioli, accused of killing Joel Acevedo while off duty, was in court Tuesday for a status hearing. 

Mattioli's trial was initially supposed to begin in Spring 2022 and is now scheduled for November. Almost three-and-a-half years since Acevedo's death, his family is still waiting for some closure.

"It's been too long," said Maribel Acevedo, Joel's mother. "It’s frustrating."

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Mattioli is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, accused of putting Joel in a chokehold in April 2020 while he was off duty. Joel later died.

"Moving forward, we just continue to be hopeful and comfort each other in the process," said Maribel. 

Michael Mattioli, Joel Acevedo

The trial has continued to be delayed, primarily due to the lack of appearance from the key witness: former Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Brian Peterson. Now that there’s a new medical examiner: Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak. The defense wants a fresh opinion on what happened. 

"The purpose of today’s status was to see if Dr. Tlomak could review Dr. Peterson’s autopsy and offer an opinion," said Mattioli's defense attorney.

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The prosecution agreed that they could talk to Tlomak, but said the new medical examiner already agreed with Peterson’s findings. 

"How many examiners do you need to come up with that a chokehold is a chokehold, and there’s no preexisting medical issues that could cause that death," Maribel said. "I don’t need to be a medical examiner to come up with that conclusion."

The final pretrial hearing date for Mattioli has been set for Oct. 2. The trial would being Nov. 6.