DETROIT LAKES — The felony burglary trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, has revealed police missteps in the investigation into the alleged April 22, 2024, break-in of her stepmother’s home.
Nicole Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024, in Detroit Lakes after police found her in the basement of the home owned by Carol Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell’s stepmother. Nicole Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools.
Police failed to seize several pieces of evidence from Mitchell and mishandled a crowbar that’s the source of one of the felony charges. These mistakes may not amount to much for some jurors, but they only need to find reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s narrative of what happened to find Mitchell not guilty.
“Like with any investigation, are there a few items that you wish we, the state had, or the agency had done differently?” Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald asked Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steven Todd Wednesday.
“Yes,” Todd answered. He added: “I am proud that the officers successfully made that arrest, and the basics of the criminal elements were met in the arrest,” Todd said.
Shortly after Nicole Mitchell’s arrest, Detroit Lakes police officers didn’t retain into evidence at least one item in Nicole Mitchell’s backpack found at the scene of her arrest — a note with scribbles such as “delete texts,” “contacts,” “flashlight,” “ringer off” and “add tracking Gmail.”
The jury was shown an image of the note via bodycam footage from the officer who went through the backpack, but the prosecution didn’t dwell on the note or have officers testify about what it could mean because it wasn’t logged into evidence.
“Would it be fair to say you didn’t understand or didn’t appreciate the significance of this at the time?” McDonald asked Becker County Deputy Sheriff Ethan Wothe, the officer who went through Nicole Mitchell’s backpack.
He responded: “That would be fair, yes.”
McDonald: “And it wasn’t retained into evidence?”
Wothe: “It was not.”
Police mishandled another piece of evidence, this time found on Nicole Mitchell’s person. When Mitchell was booked into jail, police found a pair of black “flashlight gloves” on her — gloves that would give someone ample light if they intended to steal something in the dead of night. Todd testified Wednesday that officers gave the gloves back to Mitchell and didn’t log them into evidence, which he said he now regrets.
In addition, no one searched Nicole Mitchell’s car to see if there was anything taken from the house, nor did anyone apply for a search warrant of her phone to seek additional evidence — more of Todd’s regrets, he said.
Hours after Nicole Mitchell’s arrest, Carol Mitchell called police back to her home because she found a prybar outside an egress window where officers say Nicole Mitchell entered the home.
The prosecutor showed the body cam footage from Wothe, the same officer who went through Nicole Mitchell’s backpack. Wothe jumped down into the egress window well and picked up the blue prybar with his bare hand, according to the body cam footage.
Wothe testified that he knew that was not the best practice, but he was nearing the end of his shift, losing adrenaline and he made a mistake.
During her testimony Tuesday, Carol Mitchell’s description of the prybar was strikingly different from what was shown in court, and she said she didn’t recognize the one in front of her. Carol Mitchell — who her stepdaughter says is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — struggled to remember details of the alleged break-in and other key events and names.
The prosecution on Wednesday rested its case, and the defense began calling its own witnesses. The defense is trying to make the jurors believe that Nicole Mitchell was concerned about her stepmother’s Alzheimer’s disease and conducting a welfare check after her stepmother didn’t respond to messages for weeks.
The defense has hinted but never confirmed whether Mitchell will testify in her own defense. Nicole Mitchell gave several statements to police after her arrest, like “I know I did something bad”; and “I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things.” The defense may call her to explain them.
Bruce Ringstrom Jr., Mitchell’s attorney, said Wednesday that she wants to testify and has sought to tell her story since her arrest.
If convicted of first-degree burglary, 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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