DETROIT LAKES — The prosecution and defense in the felony burglary trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, made opening statements Tuesday, July 15, but the most influential moments for jurors may wind up being the imperfect memory of the case’s key witness: Carol Mitchell, stepmother of the accused and owner of the home allegedly burgled.
Nicole Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools, after police say she broke into her stepmother’s home on April 22, 2024.
Nicole Mitchell has said her stepmother suffers from Alzheimer’s, and after not hearing from her for weeks, was conducting a welfare check.
Carol Mitchell struggled to recall basic information throughout her testimony Tuesday.
Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald began his direct examination of Carol Mitchell by asking her what year she met Nicole Mitchell’s father, Roderick.
“I’m bad at that,” Carol Mitchell said, referring to her struggle with specific dates.
Nicole Mitchell’s father Roderick Mitchell died in 2023. When McDonald asked Carol Mitchell what year he died, Carol Mitchell said that he “passed in 1983 — 1993.” After a lunch break, Carol Mitchell was asked again, and she said he died in 2023.
She couldn’t remember the names of Nicole Mitchell’s sons — her step-grandsons — who Mitchell’s attorney says have spent significant time with Carol Mitchell.
Carol Mitchell is a 75-year-old retired graphic designer who has long grey-brown hair and glasses.
Several of the jurors appeared visibly uncomfortable during the prosecutor’s direct examination of Carol Mitchell. Some furrowed their brows when McDonald attempted to jog Carol Mitchell’s memory about issues like how often Nicole Mitchell would visit her Detroit Lakes home.
Carol Mitchell’s inability to recall specific dates, names and events could undermine her credibility and bolster the defense’s argument that her memory had declined so much that Nicole Mitchell made a reasonable choice to drive to the Detroit Lakes home for a welfare check.
On April 22, 2024, Carol Mitchell called the police — after Nicole Mitchell was arrested and the officers had left — to inform them that she found a blue crowbar near the window Nicole Mitchell allegedly used to break into the home. The crowbar is a key piece of evidence for the burglary tools charge.
McDonald presented Carol Mitchell with the crowbar Tuesday, which appeared to be a small prybar, and asked her if she recognized it.
“No,” Carol Mitchell replied. The one she found “was much larger than that. A light lavender color,” she said. Body cam footage later revealed that the prybar was bright blue and less than a foot long.
Carol Mitchell told McDonald that the police “pulled the person out of the egress window” and later called her to tell her that the person was Nicole Mitchell. This testimony was incorrect, however, according to police. Nicole Mitchell was found by police in the basement bathroom.
Carol Mitchell was present for the arrest, according to body cam footage, and when Nicole Mitchell addressed her — “Carol, it’s Nicole” — Carol Mitchell said, “It’s Nicole?” in a surprised tone. Carol Mitchell during the arrest told police that Nicole Mitchell and her aunts wanted to steal her money.
Bruce Ringstrom Jr., Mitchell’s attorney, was gentle in his cross examination of Carol Mitchell, telling her to take her time and that it was okay if she couldn’t remember something.
Ringstrom asked Carol Mitchell whether she had told police that “I feel like she (Nicole Mitchell) wants to take me out.”
Carol Mitchell said she did tell police that because she thought the person who was in her bedroom was looking for the pistol she kept there, and she thought the person on the bedroom floor was “planning to shoot me.”
The defense’s cross examination of Carol Mitchell made her appear like a sympathetic, elderly woman who was suffering from Alzheimer’s-related paranoia and had an imperfect memory about an event that startled and disturbed her.
Body cam footage
McDonald showed the jury several body cam videos, including two that were each 40 minutes long, from cameras worn by the officers who were on the scene during the arrest.
When the first officer arrived on the scene that night, he walked past Carol Mitchell, who was wearing a white bathrobe, and went into the basement.
The footage showed Nicole Mitchell, dressed in a black stocking hat with her braid tucked into it, a black shirt, black leggings and black socks. The footage showed her come out of the basement bathroom with her hands up. Officers told her to get on the ground on her stomach. They handcuffed her on the ground.
Carol Mitchell could be seen on the basement stairs watching the arrest. Nicole Mitchell identified herself to Carol, who told Nicole, “You had your aunts do it” and told police “She’s trying to get my money.” Nicole Mitchell said she didn’t steal anything and nothing was on her.
Throughout the video footage and her arrest, Nicole Mitchell told police that Carol Mitchell has severe Alzheimer’s and that she was paranoid — remarks that were left out of the criminal complaint by police.
She told police that Carol Mitchell has gotten progressively more paranoid. When Becker County Deputy Sheriff Ethan Wothe was questioning Nicole Mitchell, she offered to show text messages evidencing the paranoid delusions.
Wothe responded: “It’s not a reason to break into anybody’s house,” according to the body cam footage shown in court.
“I don’t know if it means anything but she’s a state senator,” Wothe told another officer on the scene.
Wothe interviewed Carol Mitchell, who said she believed Nicole Mitchell broke into her house looking for a “tin box” that contained legal and bank documents.
Carol Mitchell testified on Tuesday that she believed Nicole Mitchell stole her laptop — the prosecution and defense agree that Nicole Mitchell did not steal her laptop — and that someone was trying to get money out of her account. Carol Mitchell said her bank had notified her that someone was trying to get into her account. Because of that, she said she believed Nicole Mitchell was after her money.
Opening statementsCarol Mitchell’s apparent confusion may not be enough to save her stepdaughter from a conviction, however, especially given the statements Nicole Mitchell made to police on the night of the arrest.
“‘I know I did something bad.’ These were some of the many words of Sen. Nicole Mitchell in the early morning hours of April 22, 2024,” McDonald began in his opening statement to the jury.
McDonald told the 14-member jury that Nicole Mitchell broke into a basement window, wearing all black and “her own words make it clear that she was there to take items, and under the law, that is all there’s required to prove burglary — unlawful entry with the intent to commit a crime inside.”
McDonald in his 10-minute opening statement told the jurors that Nicole Mitchell’s reason for being in the home doesn’t matter.
“When the judge instructs you on the law in this case, you’ll learn that any ‘why’ won’t amount to a legal excuse. That is because no amount of grief or frustration can justify a home break-in,” McDonald said.
In Ringstrom’s opening statement, he offered a defense of Nicole Mitchell the public hasn’t heard.
Ringstrom said Nicole Mitchell had a key to the Detroit Lakes home, but Carol Mitchell had started barricading the doors. Nicole Mitchell had seen signs of Carol Mitchell’s decline, so she wanted to take action to ascertain her condition and get her help, he said.
Nicole Mitchell parked on a side street. She made a point to drive to the house when it was still dark outside, wearing dark clothing.
“When you’re checking on a paranoid loved one and hoping they don’t notice, you take great pains to leave unnoticed,” Ringstrom said.
Ringstrom said the defense wouldn’t dispute that she entered without permission. Nicole Mitchell would’ve pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge, he said. But what matters is her intent, and Mitchell entered the home to check on Carol Mitchell, Ringstrom argued, not to steal.
On Tuesday morning, the judge informed the prosecution and defense that one of the jurors selected Monday had been excused because of health reasons. The jury panel now includes 10 men and four women in a county that voted for President Donald Trump last year by 33 percentage points.
If convicted, Mitchell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. If found guilty of possession of burglary tools she faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
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