Jury selected in criminal trial of DFL State Sen. Nicole Mitchell
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A jury was seated Monday in the criminal trial of a DFL state senator, Nicole Mitchell, who is facing two felony counts of burglary for allegedly breaking into the Detroit Lakes home of her stepmother in April 2024.
Ten men and five women were selected as jurors, with three of them serving as alternates.
Last month, Becker County Judge Michael Fritz delayed the trial because of security concerns following the shootings of Minnesota lawmakers Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman, and their spouses, two days before it was scheduled to begin.
According to court documents, Mitchell, a first term DFL senator from Woodbury, allegedly told police she went to her stepmother’s home on April 22, 2024 to retrieve items belonging to her late father, including his ashes.
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Roderick “Rod” Mitchell died a year earlier. He was 72 and left his entire estate to his wife, Carol Mitchell, who is now 75 and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Mitchell, who is a former MPR News meteorologist, is accused of driving through the night from her suburban Woodbury home to Detroit Lakes, where she allegedly broke into the home.
Carol Mitchell called 911 at to report an intruder who ran into the basement. According to the charging documents, when police arrived and found Mitchell, she allegedly said, “Carol, it’s Nicole. I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”
Mitchell has said on social media that she was in her stepmother’s home to check on the welfare of a family member who was in decline due to “Alzheimer's and associated paranoia.”
During the jury selection process, defense attorneys and prosecutors asked questions that touched on potential jurors’ experience with people suffering from Alzheimer's, as well as their experience of being burglarized. Jurors were also asked if politicians should be held to a higher standard than other people.
Mitchell’s attorneys wanted to present Carol Mitchell’s medical records at trial as evidence but Judge Fritz denied the defense motion.
“Our fundamental strategy is to explain to a jury and to explain to the people of Minnesota why Senator Mitchell entered that home that night,” said Dane DeKrey, one of Mitchell’s attorneys. “That is the central dispute in the case, whether her motives were good or whether her motives were bad, and I think that will be the central focus on whether or not we’re able to secure a ‘not guilty’ verdict.”
DeKrey said while any trial brings with it a sense of uncertainty, he is optimistic that jurors will be able to put politics aside.
“We hope that Senator Mitchell gets tried as Nicole Mitchell, a citizen of Woodbury in a court in Becker County, instead of Senator Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat in the State Senate,” Dekrey told MPR News. “And if we can do that, we are confident that we are going to get the fair shake you can get in the fairest justice system that we think exists in the world.”
Former state and federal prosecutor Mark Osler, now a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, said the Mitchell trial is unique among prosecutions of politicians because it involves an alleged burglary, rather than political corruption or malfeasance. And he said the case is somewhat complex for both the prosecution and the defense.
“The fact that it’s kind of an intra family dispute underneath all of this does complicate it in terms of, you know, people can be conflicted about testifying,” Osler said. “You’ve got divided loyalties amongst other family members, and, you know, often mixed feelings all around. And so, it does complicate it in terms of the task of bringing forth testimony.”
Osler doubts the one-month delay in the criminal trial will have a profound impact.
“Sometimes you’ll see delays of months, and that definitely can affect preparation,” Osler said. “But here it’s a short enough span that it shouldn’t advantage one side or the other, or frankly, change things very much.”
But he said the circumstances which caused the delay, the shootings that killed former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and that wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, could weigh heavily on the minds of jurors, potentially favoring the defense.
“That is something that could happen. There could be sympathy, because we did have this horrific set of murders that just occurred,” Osler said. “However, that’s something that I’m pretty sure they’re going to vet for during jury selection and see if anybody would be swayed by that.”
Defense attorney DeKrey said Mitchell was on the “hit list” of the alleged shooter, Vance Boelter.
Osler said this trial is unlike typical burglary cases. And not just because Mitchell is a politician.
“This is a trial that has a very human aspect to it. You know, one of the things that could be determinative is how much of that story, the fullness of its scope, is allowed to come before the jury.”
DeKrey said Mitchell will likely take the stand in her own defense. Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald was not available for comment. The trial is expected to last more than a week.
A felony conviction would not result in Mitchell's immediate expulsion from the legislature. It would take a two-thirds vote to remove her, meaning some Democratic colleagues would have to side with Republicans.
While some DFLers suggested Mitchell resign, others said she deserved a chance to argue her case in court before they were willing to pass judgment.
If the seat comes open, the DFL will lose its one-vote majority control in the Senate, which is now split 34-33. The seat would be filled in a special election.
