Sen. Nicole Mitchell in the basement of her stepmother's home (April 22, 2025)
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (WCCO) – Testimony began Tuesday in the trial for a Democratic Minnesota state senator accused of burglarizing her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home.
Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s trial is charged with felony first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools for the alleged break-in on April 22, 2024.
Mitchell’s stepmother, Carol Mitchell, testified on Tuesday morning, though she opted not to be recorded on camera while she did so. During the testimony, Mitchell’s stepmother said she felt “extremely violated,” when her home was broken into.
“It was frightening,” she said. “I didn’t dare to stay there. I moved out.”
She added that she was surprised to learn that Mitchell had broken in, and she had not given her stepdaughter permission to enter the home. Mitchell’s stepmother said she moved back into her home after a security system was installed.
The defense then asked Mitchell’s stepmother if her stepdaughter cared about her safety or well-being.
“I don’t believe so,” Mitchell’s stepmother told the court. “Nicole never let me get close to her.”
Mitchell’s stepmother said she was given the estate after her husband died. According to her testimony, Mitchell’s stepmother had a son when she was 18-years-old who she gave up for adoption. Later in life they reconnected, and her son would often come to visit her after her husband died. During the testimony, Mitchell’s stepmother said Mitchell had told her that she didn’t believe her son should receive all of the family money.
The 911 dispatcher who took the call from Mitchell’s stepmother also testified Tuesday.
“I don’t know I’m just scared,” Mitchell’s stepmother said on the call, which was played in court.
“Are you armed?” the dispatcher asked Mitchell’s stepmother on the call.
“I have a little steak knife in my hand right now,” Mitchell’s stepmother said in response.
Bodycam video offered the first actual look at the night she is alleged to have burglarized her stepmother’s home.
The video shows an officer enter the basement, where he finds Mitchell in a bathroom, dressed in black. Though she did not respond to the officer’s initial announcement as he walked down the stairs, when he finds her in the bathroom and orders her to get on the ground and put her hands behind her back, she complies.
Mitchell then identifies herself to her stepmother and says she “was just trying to get some of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”
Mitchell’s stepmother then accuses her of stealing documents.
“No one stole anything here,” Mitchell said
Mitchell tells police her stepmother is “paranoid” and has Alzheimer’s.
As Mitchell explains the familial dispute at the center of the case, her stepmother accuses her of “trying to get money.”
The officer then leads Mitchell out of the house and into his squad car, where he reads her Miranda rights before interviewing her.
“I know I did something bad,” Mitchell begins by saying. She then alleges her stepmother has “progressively cut off the family” due to paranoia caused by Alzheimer’s. Mitchell tells the officer she got into the house through the basement window and “just wanted to get a couple of my dad’s mementos.”
The officer then informs Mitchell she is under arrest for burglary, to which she asks, “Even if I didn’t take anything?” The officer explains the burglary charge and tells Mitchell, “You’re definitely dressed for it.” The video goes on to show Mitchell being escorted and processed into jail.
The prosecution’s opening statements began with a plea to jurors to remember Mitchell’s words to police on the night of the alleged burglary: “I know I did something bad.”
Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald said Mitchell “was caught red-handed.”
“This case won’t be about speculation. It won’t be about trying to read between any lines,” McDonald said. “It will be about what the defendant did, what she admitted to and what you will see and hear with your own eyes and ears.”
The prosecutor said his team intended to call the responding officers to the witness stand and show their bodycam footage in court. He said the jury will see “clear confessions, clear expression of intent, all caught on high-definition body camera.”
He urged jurors not to get distracted by discussions of family disputes or Mitchell’s stepmother’s health.
The defense’s opening statements painted Mitchell as a “concerned child” who went to her stepmother’s home in April 2024 to ascertain how serious the woman’s Alzheimer’s had become.
Defense attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. emphasized how long Mitchell’s stepmother has been in her life and how close they had been previously.
Ringstrom said the stepmother’s worsening condition, coupled with Mitchell’s father’s death, led to an untenable situation in which Mitchell felt she needed to take action.
Nicole Mitchell is a person who always gets things done,” Ringstrom said. “Her persistence can be counted on. So when problems come up in the family, she takes the initiative to fix those problems.”
According to a criminal complaint, Mitchell’s stepmother called 911 to report a burglary, and responding officers found Mitchell fleeing to the basement. She allegedly told police she was there to retrieve personal items belonging to her recently deceased father after her stepmother cut off contact with her and other family members.
The charges say officers found a backpack with two laptops inside, a cellphone, Tupperware, items identifying Mitchell and a sock-covered flashlight.
“Clearly I’m not good at this,” Mitchell allegedly told officers, according to court documents. “I know I did something bad.”
The trial was scheduled to begin in January, but Mitchell successfully petitioned for a delay until after the legislative session wrapped up. It was then delayed again after two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were targeted in what authorities called politically motivated shootings.
Mitchell’s attorneys asked the judge in May to dismiss the burglary tool charge, which came in an amended complaint in February. Her defense argued the charge was retaliatory for the delay and violated her right to due process.
Mitchell has survived multiple expulsion attempts by her Republican Senate colleagues, but the body’s DFL Caucus did remove her from committee assignments and caucus meetings days after her arrest.
Comments