That Apple River Stabbing Trial went terribly wrong.

Hudson, WI—This was a justifiable homicide, and the other moves made by the defendant, Nicolae Miu were totally lawful and necessary.  Make no mistake the witnesses that testified against the accused man provably lied under oath.  However, the accused defendant,  Nicolae Miu lied to the police.  Lying to the police is not a crime here but perjury under oath is a felony.  The jury chose to punish the defendant and they had no power over any possible perjury charges for the states witnesses.  

The Defense Lawyer here, obviously never prepared Nicolae Miu for his testimony.  He should have made sure the jury was aware that a man in this medical condition does not have to fight fairly defending himself.  Even if he is facing one of these clowns, separately, he may sill use deadly force to terminate the attack.  There is a serious degree of ineffective assistance of counsel here but I doubt if that alone will cause a new trial.  

The evidence showed that a bunch of drunken punks surrounded Nicolae Miu and began pushing, shoving choking him despite the fact that he was older and recovering of a quadruple bypass open-heart surgery.  There is a huge disparity of force here and the use of deadly force by Nicolae Miu was absolutely lawful and necessary. 

At the end of the trial, the judge approved a state motion to give the jury “lesser” charges to consider.  Things like second-degree murder, manslaughter reckless homicide were suddenly on the table for the jury.  The catch here is that the jury is told to disregard any sympathy or potential sentence that the accused may face.  The idea here is to give the jury a compromise verdict, but the problem is for this 55-year-old man with a serious history of heart problems either way will still wind up with a life sentence.  The jurors falsely believed that Nicolae Miu would essentially be eligible for probation.  

Once the jury learns that the sentence is going to be just as severe and that there was no compromise after all, they’re going to be pissed off, but there’s nothing that they can do about it.  The guilty verdict will stand like a brick wall. 

I will offer up my own sarcastic motto “that I have subscribed to for the last 35 years, “if justice ever happens it’s usually by accident and for all the wrong reasons.”

Certainly justice didn’t happen here and even if Nicolae Miu could get an appellate court to grind out an order a new trial years will have passed while he is locked up in a prison.  Our criminal justice system is a train wreck primarily since prosecutors redundantly go to lawmakers and the get anything they want in the way of making criminal trials unfair.  It’s always in the name of “public safety“ but all that does is give lazy prosecutors ability to convict more than 80% of the people who stand trial. 

Why Dick Wolf’s TV Show, Chicago Justice Failed

Chicago, IL—Dick Wolfe is a prolific and wildly successful writer and producer.  Everything he puts a pen to, is absolutely golden.  That is,  except his offering called, Chicago Justice. 

Wolf replaced the grit and smell of courtrooms and death with silk stockinged lawyers from Ivy League schools working as prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers.  That’s just not Chicago.  

If you’ve ever been in a Cook County Criminal Court the first thing you notice is the lawyers, especially the males dress down.  They for the most part attended the local law schools like DePaul, John Marshall and ITT Chicago Kent.  These schools are more affordable but the alumni find that their job offers are limited.  Let me make it clear that many terrific and dedicated lawyers attend these schools.

Dick Wolf’s legal offices and courtroom settings all have new, polished and tasteful décor.  That’s just not Cook County!  Wolf’s TV lawyers are what you’d see in civil cases where millions of dollars are at stake and they dress the part.

Chicago’s criminal lawyers are local lads that attend Cubs games, eat hotdogs and drink beer.  These lawyers are not known for their expensive suit labels but far from it.  There are of course the occasional mob lawyers or white-collar crime specialists that fit inside Dick Wolf’s legal world.  

The files handled by Chicago criminal lawyers are almost all in in tattered folders.  Plea agreements are cut in the hallways or even local watering holes where the lawyers meet after work.  Very few criminal cases are actually tried before a judge or jury.  It may not look pretty but at least its real.  

Chicago crimes are despicable as are most of the defendants.  In Cook County the vast majority of defendants are African-American, angry and poor.  Frankly they actually have a foul odor about them.  They hate their public defenders as well as the whole world.  You can’t put lipstick on this pig and then make this kind of thing believable.

A better title might have been Chicago Injustice.  If the public really knew what goes on in Chicago Criminal Courts, they’d be shocked. Political decisions have replaced concerns for public safety. 

Chicago’s politicians would go out of their way to destroy Wolf’s Chicago Franchise if he refused to sanitize the much darker reality.  

I’m convinced if I were writing and producing Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and Chicago Justice it would get worldwide attention. 

I auditioned for Chicago Justice.  The show was cancelled before I could get any consideration. Frankly the show was a clinker.  Here is my audition that I also wrote. I’m a felony review supervisor explaining to a young cop’s mother why I let three thugs go that are suspected of critically wounding her son.  The implied hint is that this was more about race relations and politics than justice.