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Crime, Law and Justice
Clay Masters

Sen. Nicole Mitchell seeks dismissal of burglary charge while calling for release of more evidence

Three people sit at a table while press lines up behind them
Sen. Nicole Mitchell listens as her attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. delivers a statement on her behalf during a Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct hearing in St. Paul on May 7.
Ben Hovland | MPR News

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A hearing related to DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s felony burglary case has been pushed back to July 9; she seeks to have the charges dismissed.

A court hearing that had been set for Monday in Becker County District Court was postponed. It stems from the Woodbury lawmaker’s April arrest at her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home.

Filings Friday from Mitchell’s defense attorneys seek a ruling that “probable cause is absent because Nicole did not intend to commit, nor did she commit, a crime” inside the home. The senator’s stepmother called 911 to report a break-in and police encountered Mitchell when they responded.

Mitchell, a first-term lawmaker, has said it is a misunderstanding as she tried to retrieve items belonging to her late father. He died in 2023. 

Next week’s hearing will focus on Mitchell’s newly filed motion for dismissal and her pursuit of additional evidence, including her stepmother’s medical records and forensic analysis of a computer she is alleged to have stolen from the home of Carol Mitchell. Mitchell’s legal team is asking for the analysis to determine whether the laptop connected to a Woodbury IP address before the night of the alleged theft.

The case was also reassigned to a new judge in the case, Judge Doug Clark. On Monday, Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald filed motion to have Clark removed from the case.

Mitchell’s vote is key in the state Senate where each party currently holds 33 seats following DFL Sen. Kelly Morrison’s resignation to run for Congress. 

Mitchell’s vote had been the tie-breaker throughout the 2024 Minnesota legislative session that ended in May. Numerous Republicans and DFL leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and state DFL Chair Ken Martin, have called on Mitchell to resign as have some of her DFL Senate colleagues.

She has insisted through attorneys that she will not step down. An ethics complaint remains pending, with another hearing set for late July.