Michael Mattioli (left), Joel Acevedo (right)
The off-duty Wisconsin police officer accused of killing a man he allegedly put in a chokehold after a night of partying heads to trial on Monday.
Former Milwaukee officer Michael Mattioli, 36, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Joel Acevedo, 25.
The trial begins with jury selection on Monday and is expected to last about a week.
The Crime
Michael Mattioli (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office)
Note: All reporting below can be attributed to the criminal complaint filed by the state of Wisconsin against Michael Mattioli.
Just before 7:30 a.m. on April 19, 2020, 911 dispatchers got a call about a police officer — later identified as Mattioli — who needed backup. When officers arrived at his home on the south side of Milwaukee, they found Acevedo in a chokehold with Mattioli on top of him.
First responders reported it took about 22 seconds for Mattioli to get off of Acevedo after they established he was a police officer. According to investigators, it’s believed Mattioli had Acevedo in a chokehold for more than 11 minutes.
Acevedo wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse when he was rushed to the hospital. He died six days after the incident.
The medical examiner ruled Acevedo’s death as a homicide due to traumatic suffocation.
Michael Mattioli’s Defense
Joel Acevedo (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office)
The night before Acevedo’s death, Mattioli said he had several friends over to his home and they all were drinking and partying. Mattioli told officers some of those friends ended up staying the night, sleeping at his home.
According to court documents, Mattioli explained to officers that he had fallen asleep but was woken up by Acevedo allegedly going through his pants pocket, looking for items of interest to potentially steal.
Mattioli then told Acevedo to leave, but before he left the home, Acevedo allegedly punched someone else who was staying at Mattioli’s house — that’s when Mattioli said he fought back to protect the other people inside.
Lawsuits Surrounding the Case
Jose Acevedo, father of Joel Acevedo, speaks at the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Acevedo’s family has been very vocal about his death ever since news of it first broke. The family filed a lawsuit against two former officers — one of them being Mattioli — and the former police chief in April 2023. The complaint claims Acevedo’s 4th and 14th Amendment rights were violated.
In December 2020, Mattioli filed a lawsuit to try to stop the release of body camera footage from the day of the alleged crime after he got word the police department planned on making it public. Under Wisconsin law, releasing the footage is legal under public records statutes. Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled against him — and concluded the video could be made public.
Court Proceedings
Mattioli resigned from the Milwaukee Police Department shortly after he was charged. His trial has been delayed several times due to COVID-19, defense challenges and scheduling concerns. One witness, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Brian Peterson, is no longer in his position as medical examiner.
Mattioli’s defense argues Acevedo had several substances in his blood at the time of his death, including alcohol, cocaine and THC metabolites — all of which allegedly contributed to his death.
If convicted, Mattioli faces up to 40 years in prison.
The trial will be livestreamed in full on the Law&Crime Trials YouTube page.
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