FARGO (KFGO) – Defense attorney Dane DeKrey says Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell will resign from the legislature.
DeKrey, who made the announcement on KFGO’s News & Views, says Mitchell will resign by 5 p.m., Monday Aug. 4.
“She wants two weeks to finish her outstanding Legislative out-of-session work,” DeKrey says. “She wants to help her staff find new employment. It’s not their fault that they’re going to have to have new jobs because of a poor decision on her part.”
Mitchell was found guilty of two counts of burglary for breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April 2024.
Mitchell was found in Carol Mitchell’s basement with burglary tools and wearing all black in the early morning hours of April 22, 2024. Mitchell drove all night from her Woodbury home.
Initially, Mitchell told police she broke into the home to gather personal belongings of her late father, such as a t-shirt and his ashes. During her trial, Mitchell said she was there to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Mitchell took the stand in her weeklong trial last week in Detroit Lakes. The jury came back with a guilty verdict after just three hours of deliberation on Friday.
DeKrey says there is a very good chance Mitchell will serve jailtime.
“Minnesota law says that this conviction, it is presumed that you almost certainly must spend at least six months in jail. Which, in Minnesota is four months. You do two-thirds of your sentence automatically. There’s no debate about that,” DeKrey says.
DeKrey added there are some “hail Mary” arguments that could be made to keep Mitchell out of jail.
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