Apple River stabbing trial: Miu's 'best friend' testifies

present evidence of their own sometimes we deviate from that rule to accommodate a witness today we're making an accommodation because we have interpreters present so rather than uh waiting until some other day we're going to take those Witnesses today even though they're being called by attorneys for Mr Mew Mr Nelson who will be the witness Ernesto apologize Torres Ernesto Torres see Mr Torres right here uh please raise your right hand she will administer the oath seat yes please have a seat in the witness chair Mr Nelson good morning you tell the all of us your name please Ernesto Torres chz Ernesto Torres Chavez chz CH can I call you by uh Ernesto s Ernesto do you know this man over here here see yes Nick Nick Nick who Nick M Nick mu how long have you known Nick mu approximately uh well it's over 10 years do you uh did you work with Nick s yes um are you married s yes who's your wife Amy Emmy is up here is this a picture of you and Amy see yes do you have any family in here other than that my sister on the right side Rosie Rosie that's your sister yes see anybody else family noig not relatives all friends did your wife Amy work with Nick as well s yes and when you you said you're friends with Nick obviously sometimes when we're adults we have different lots of different friends how close would you consider Nick as a friend is my best friend you're at his house he's at your house please for The Interpreter could you please repeat question you've been to his house he's been to your house you guys hang out together see yes would you consider Nick to be kind of a handyman see yes why do you say that because because he's always there helping things in his house or he goes to other houses to help fix things have you ever seen him use tools to fix things say yes have you ever seen him uh with a pocket knife s yes have you ever seen him use the pocket knife as a tool to fix things s yes can you tell me about some of those things that you've seen him do with the pocketknife to fix things I have seen him fix things in his house and me my house when I bought my pool he helped me um fix the the pool and in general fixing things and he and he used the knife sorry want to ask you some questions about uh the trip down the river on July 30th of 2022 okay see yes is that a trip you and your wife have made before see yes um prior to leaving your house that day did you have a call did you call Nick Mew that day and ask him to bring anything see yes um what' you ask Nick to bring to bring his knife why did you ask Nick to bring and when you say his start over his knife is that a pocket knife or some other knife no not the pocket and why did you ask Nick to bring his pocket knife because the last time we went went to the river we had all the inner tubes tied together and we couldn't cut the cords so we had to pull them out of the river all together and and bring them up to the place where we had to do them so you wanted him to have the knife to help cut the cords at the end of the trip and at the beginning too it's useful to tie them up why didn't you just bring your own pocket knife I don't have one and if who's the guy that tends to have a pocket knife in your group of friends Nick Nick is he the handy man amongst your group of friends same yes is he you said he had that pocket knife with him sometimes when he's come over to your house right see yes that day when you called him and asked him to bring the knife were you worried about Nick Mew having a knife no no there's no reason for that you've known him for a long time see seen him in your home seen him in his home see yes seen him at work work with him Saint yes fair to say you've had opportunities to observe his character would you agree with that see yes would you agree Nick Mew has a character for peacefulness s yes were you worried at all about Nick Mew bringing a knife based upon what you knew about Nick over you can answer the question repeat the question please were you worried at all about Nick Mew having a knife out on the river no no so now I'm going to talk ask you some more questions about the river okay being on the river see yes when you were on the river was Nick there with his wife see yes you see the picture there uh I think it's 26 sorry 12 a you see that big photo see yeso see yes um Nick's wearing a shirt and sunglasses in that photo is that what he look like on July 30th see yes yes it's been marked as exhibit 110 do you see this picture you see the picture yeah Y and you see Nick is uh wearing a hat in this picture see yes this picture Nick doesn't have a in 12 a he doesn't have a hat but on 110 he does have a hat you agree see yes there times that day that you saw Nick wearing a hat see yes were there times that day where you saw that Nick had taking the hat off see yes did you see Nick with uh some goggles and a snorkel see yes did you see him use the goggles and snorkel prior to Ariel losing his phone see yes um would he use the snorkel to swim in the river see yes when you use the snorkel to swim in the river do you remember was he wearing his hat no no was he when he had on his goggles and snorkel was he wearing sunglasses can repeat the question when he went swimming in the river using the goggles and snorkel did he also wear his sunglasses no no was there a time when you were on the river that you saw or that uh you came to learn Ariel had lost his phone s yes when he lost his phone did you guys stop and have a discussion uh no I got to find no we didn't we we didn't stop we continued then we he said I'm going to look for the phone and I said no don't go and then he said I'm going to go look for it for it the he you're referring to is nickm corre did you eventually correct did you eventually see Nick go look for the phone with his goggles and snorkel see yes did you see him go in the same direction that the water was flowing s yes would you can we call that down river say yes you know why he went down river to look for the phone I think that he went down the river because the telephone was inside a pouch those bags that you used to put them in the water on exhibit 12a that photo do you see some people have lanyards with uh looks like maybe a phone inside of them see yes you even see Ariel and Gilma right there the same yeah is that is that what you're describing see yes please just slow down and wait for the interpretation I was going too fast I'm going to slow down when Nick then left to go look for the phone were you watching him see yes um did you look for the phone at all no no were you sitting in the tube standing near the tube or doing something else sitting down um did you eventually see Nick and another group of people or multiple people interacting in some way no no did you eventually learn that Nick was interacting or people were interacting with Nick see yes how did you learn that from something you saw or for something you heard his wife said Nick is in problems in trouble when you heard did that surprise you see yes you ever you know you know Nick you must know his wife Sandy see yes if you you guys must hang out together as a couple often or as couples s yes and you ever heard Sandy Express concern about the safety of her husband like she did on that day over and during that day um I don't understand the question sure when Sandy said Nick's in trouble you took that as Sandy expressing concern for Nick's safety s yes had you ever prior to that that day or any time before that heard Sandy Express concerns about her husband's safety when you were around no never that must have surprised you then on that day when you heard that see yes what' you do so I look and down where uh people was and I saw it in the water and I stand up and I tried to get there when you saw Nick in the water did he appear to be snorkeling and looking for the phone or was something else going on no no he was in the water and there were people around him how many people I can't tell you the number but there were many maybe 10 15 I don't know when when you made that observation were you worried for Nick safety see yes what did it looked like that group of 10 or 15 people was doing to Nick [Music] so he they were shouting at him and when he was in the water some somebody was yelling at him did you ever see anybody have physical contact with Nick well when I at that moment when I saw Nick in the water I saw somebody hitting him that's the only thing I saw after you saw him in the water did you keep watching so well I tried to get over there but uh I lost my shoes in the middle of the river so on your way were you able to continue to watch or did you need to tend to your Footwear no no I uh tried to keep walking but I couldn't and I did watch the group at some point and but not always did you see anybody being violent to or at Nick after the when the was in the water no after I saw him in the water I didn't see anything else and it sounds like you don't know how he got down into the water when you first looked he was already in the water cor correct at some point did uh Nick did you see Nick walking back to you in the group uh after I saw him standing there I told him to come back and then he came back and so if we're on the river you're Ernesto and I'm standing where Nick is roughly does that make sense mhm the river flows that way to Downstream does that make sense correct correct and you see Nick walking somewhere in your direction not exactly this angle but somewhere towards you correct correct correct and what had happened is behind Nick by the time he's walking to you agreed you mean before repeat the question please after you saw Nick down in the water eventually you see Nick coming back to you because you called him back see I want to ask you about that moment in time I don't understand question I want to ask you about what you saw when Nick was walking back to you when you called him back oh does that make sense did I told him to come back I want to ask about that moment in time what you saw okay okay okay okay when Nick's walking back towards you is he looking at you in the group or is he walking backwards looking behind him I'm not sure you're looking in Nick's Direction correct say yes when you look in that direction do you see somebody else other than Nick approaching you in your group or you focus your do you see somebody else that draws your attention see yes what do you see so when Nick was coming over on my left side someone else tried to um approach and pointed at me with the finger when you say the finger that might have different connotation so do you mean like a pointing finger or something else pointing with my with the finger and uh when they're pointing with your their finger is Nick near you he was going by Me by me so if I'm Nick in that scenario Nick ising this you're there stay there stay there I'm looking at the person who was there and say stay there stay there can you describe that person no not I have no idea why were you telling that person stay there stay there stay there and and he tried to walk because the person pointing because there was a person there pointing I don't know if she was they were pointing at me or at Nick but they were approaching did you think it was safe for that person to come towards you in Nick well I tried to prevent that person from approaching us because I thought maybe the problem will was going to continue and you thought the solution to that problem was to keep Nick separated from the group that was pointing at you say yes when Nick I'm gonna now ask you about when Nick's back at the tubes with you after you pointed at this person okay make sense J in that time what did Nick look like he looked worried and he was pale I think there was a time you you you also Ed the word he looked white or he looked white-eyed D yes did you see those things when you looked at ni see yes you said you've known Nick for a long time he's your best friend you ever seen him scared [Music] before n never did he look like he was scared then see yes have you seen people when they're in shock before see yes did he look to you like he was in fear and in shock see yes were you worried about him he yes and is that why you were pointing at other people because you wanted to protect your friend and keep him there because you were worried about him see yes would it be fair to say you didn't really know what had happened down there at that other group you just didn't want anything more to happen no I mean yes it's correct because I knew what what what had happened I didn't know what had happened sorry right did Nick stay then with the group at the tubes did he stay there that whole time see did he ever ask you or make any motions to or indicate in any way tell you in any way that he wanted to go onto the shore or on the woods or sit anywhere other than in his tube no no what did you see him do while you guys were waiting there he just had in the intertube and he didn't say anything no words did your impressions about him being in fear and shock did that change over that time or did he continue to look like he was in fear and shock no no he continued in shock how long did you guys in your group wait there at the tubes before you event eventually floated down the river I would say 30 minutes 35 minutes I don't know exactly it was a while why did you eventually go back down float down the river did anything prompt you I don't know if he was the witness to repeat his answer okay I don't know I'm not sure if it was the police or if it was something else somebody else who was trying to guide people and they were telling people to move move and to continue and based upon what you saw then you kind of helped your your group say we got to go and you move down the river correct correct during the float down the river it contined to be quiet totally quiet I as far as I remember nobody talked until we got to the exit what happened at the exit when we got to the exit I don't know if it was a policeman who was there somebody was cutting the ropes then we crossed uh we passed the bridge when we passed the bridge there we noticed there were policemen there they were they were over here and we were on the other over here and then we they approached the group of where we were and when they approached the group did you see them somehow indicate or say something to Nick who the policeman the the right at that moment when we they stopped us I don't know if they were policemen or not but then one of them came and he said he has to come with us the policeman asked Nick to come with them MH that yes same yes did you then see Nick go with the police see yes he was walking normal normally with him were you surprised at that point we yes we W in shock because we didn't know why they were um detaining him we didn't know what had happened and you couldn't believe your friend who's peaceful would have done anything to harm someone n never that's all Mr Anderson do you have any questions you've tubed on the Apple River several times including with Nick right we have but uh it was the second time with him and the Apple River it's kind of a party scene agreed the Apple River it's kind of a party scene lots of people on the river drink see yes you got your group was drinking see yes probably most of the groups you saw on the river we're drinking see yes were you intoxicated no no how many drinks did you have do you know probably like a four beer probably like four beer and you said you told Nick not to go look for the phone but he insisted right correct correct and Ariel wasn't worried about his phone cuz he had insurance right correcto correct and after Sandy said Nick's in trouble you started walking towards Nick right correcto correct and you got pretty close to where Nick was right no no you got a lot closer than Sergio did [Music] right no I don't know because I don't know where Serio was at that moment but yes I was close and you saw Nick in the water you said right see yes you never saw Nick do anything to anyone no no you said you were concerned for Nick's safety right correct correct you you walked over there right see yes and you told police I didn't see we we don't know what happened happened cuz Nick didn't tell us anything right correct correct and you said that multiple times correct correct you told police multiple times that Nick ran away when you referring to uh uh running or or running away I referring to when he ER left that group and approached our group when he on on this side when he went back to your group you said he ran back to your group right correct correct you told that to police multiple times corre correct so you remember him running back to your group I don't know I'm I'm I mean I he didn't come running he was walking fast he was just coming back he actually just walked casually back objection right what's the objection it's over he can answer if he understands you understand the question no I don't understand the question you need to rephrase that he wasn't walking fast back to your group he he was walking but not quickly right no no no no and then after he walked past you you told police the groups were fighting each other it's I couldn't say they were fighting everybody was shouting we didn't know what was happening there but what you told police was that the groups were fighting each other after Nikolai left I don't remember right now but uh in my opinion the because of the way they were talking and they were loud they may have been fighting you didn't see any injuries on Nick when he walks back right no no and your group stayed at The Sandbar for a while because Eric was helping with the victims right I'll say I don't know was Nick helping with the victims was Eric sorry was Eric helping with the injured no I don't know eventually when you did leave it was because Nick said let's go right can you repeat the question eventually when you did leave it was because Nikolai me said let's go no nope when you got to the exit there's a lot of police there you said right see yes there there was wasn't any belligerent people approaching you or anything like that I couldn't tell you if there were people approaching us or getting closer to us there were people in front there were people behind us I don't know what you're referring to you didn't you didn't get threatened or anything when you got out to the exit right no no when Nick came back to your group he told you they took my knife right I don't remember you told police you told police multiple times they took mik's knife out of his pocket right if they give if he gave it to the policeman I don't know inter needs to correct if I told that to the policeman maybe but I don't remember you don't remember if Nick told you they took my knife I don't remember exactly she she tell me something so Nick I don't remember where because when we sit down there in the in the two we we not talking nothing you saw Nick among the group of people when you're walking up right cor correct you could see how the group was acting you could hear them right yes they were y yelling and when police talk to you about it you didn't believe Nick stabbed anyone right no never and you said he he's a big guy he was in the Army he doesn't need a knife to defend himself right see yes and he was he was in the Army in Romania before coming to the US right uh I'm not sure I'm not sure if I said that but I know that he comes from a communist country and the military service is mandatory I come from a communist country too where you have the mandatory uh military service and you answered questions about Nick had his knife because he used it to cut ropes he was going to use it at the beginning and going to use it at the end do you remember that correct correct but you told police that you thought Nikolai put his back knife back in the vehicle before floating down the river right Correo correct and he also told police you never saw Nikolai with a knife on the river right no no well when we were in the river I only saw him with a knife at the beginning when we were tying the tubes when when Nikolai got back to the tubes after he walked past you did you walk back to the tubes I'm sorry please interet a repetition Nikolai walked past you going back to the tubes right see yes and he didn't say anything to you then I don't remember because I pay attention to the guy pun us and I say stay there stay there I don't want to coming to us Nikolai didn't ask for your help or anything are you help when ever he never yelled for help right I didn't see anything until the lady told me that he was in trouble you also didn't hear him yell anything right no no when Nikolai got back to his the tubes did you walk back to the tubes too see yes no one followed you right stay there stay there stay there when when Nick he was walking by me on this side I stay standing there and I told the guy who was approaching us stay there stay there and pointing and then I followed Nick you didn't answer my question I asked when you walked away nobody followed you right as far as I remember no if I'm look walking I can't see uh in my from my back I can't see in the back and once Nikolai got back to the tubes he put on his shirt right correct correct and you didn't see what happened before Nick you saw Nick in the water right no nope so you don't know if he did something violent before you saw him in the water nope nope you said Nick appeared very scared worried after he walked back right see is normal yes it's normal and you'd never seen him scared like that before right no never and he wasn't smiling right he wasn't smiling no no that would be you wouldn't expect him to be smiling if he was afraid right who's going to smile when you're in the middle of a trouble and I want to show you some slide some frames why don't we break here for lunch uh since there seems to be more questions members of the jury uh we're going to break until 1:00 same reminders no independent investigation no research I do not speak with anyone including yourselves about this case uh we will uh resume

Channel: FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Views: 131,760

Keywords: news, apple-river-stabbing-trial

Id: FmUmDjDggo4

Length: 51min 18sec (3078 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 05 2024