The first day of a felony burglary trial for a Minnesota senator was dominated by jury selection Monday in Becker County District Court.
Sen. Nicole Mitchell is accused of burglarizing her stepmother’s house in Detroit Lakes in April 2024. According to court documents, when Mitchell was arrested, she told police officers she was retrieving items that belonged to her late father.
Mitchell was charged with two felony burglary counts: first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools. She pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty, Mitchell could face prison time.
In a Facebook post in the days after her arrest, Mitchell said her family was “watching a loved one decline due to Alzheimer’s and associated paranoia.” The post went on to say she went to check on that family member. After she entered the house, Mitchell startled the relative and was accused of stealing, she wrote, an accusation she denied.
As Mitchell’s attorney, Bruce Ringstrom Jr., questioned the pool of prospective jurors, he asked about their affinity to grabbing a gun if somebody broke into their house, and experiences with break-ins and unexpected people showing up at their houses.
He polled them on experience with Alzheimer’s, dementia and memory loss, and how jurors would feel seeing a witness with memory loss being questioned.
Ringstrom touched on Mitchell’s status as a state lawmaker, asking prospective jurors whether lawmakers should be held to a higher standard than the average person. Questions mostly steered clear of politics but touched on how prospective jurors handle political disagreements and the fact that some may see the outcome of the trial as a political statement.
As the prosecutor, Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald, took the podium, he asked if jurors had been involved in disagreements over inheritance or family property. He also asked follow-up questions to some of Ringstrom’s inquiries related to their experiences with crimes, such as break-ins and burglaries.
Following jury questioning, attorneys whittled the group of 23 prospective jurors questioned down to a group of 15.
Mitchell, a Democratic-Farmer-Laborer lawmaker from Woodbury, was charged during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session. She was arrested in her stepmother’s house on April 22, 2024.
Nicole Mitchell (Courtesy of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office)
According to an amended complaint filed Feb. 10, around 4:45 a.m. April 22, 2024, Detroit Lakes police officers were dispatched to the home of Mitchell’s stepmother for a report of a break-in. There, officers found Mitchell in a basement bathroom, dressed in black clothing.
The complaint said Mitchell claimed she was trying to retrieve a couple of her father’s things. Mitchell’s father died in 2023 without a will, according to court documents. His surviving spouse, Nicole Mitchell’s stepmother, was awarded 100% of his estate.
On Feb. 10, McDonald added the possession of burglary tools charge, focusing on items found at the house. Court documents say Mitchell was carrying a flashlight covered by a black sock and that her stepmother found a crowbar in an egress window well. Mitchell denied that the crowbar belonged to her.
Charges against Mitchell were a point of contention in a divided Senate during the last two legislative sessions. DFL leaders barred Mitchell from participating in committee assignments or party caucus meetings. Senate Republicans called for her resignation and unsuccessfully tried to oust her from the Senate.
The trial has been pushed back multiple times. It was scheduled for January but was rescheduled to allow Mitchell to participate in the legislative session.
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The trial was then scheduled to begin June 16 but was pushed back again in the aftermath of the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted assassination of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
This week, the trial is scheduled to continue through Friday.
The felony burglary charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least six months in jail or a county workhouse, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Felony possession of burglary tools carries a maximum sentence of 3 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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