DETROIT LAKES, Minn. >> Sen. Nicole Mitchell recounted her decision to enter her stepmother’s house as she took the stand to testify on Thursday in her own defense of burglary charges.

The state lawmaker, who was charged with two felony burglary counts after she was arrested in her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes house on April 22, 2024, told the jury she entered the house to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.Mitchell told the jury she was worried about her stepmother driving and getting lost.

“I was worried in general, and I decided to check and see how things were myself,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell, a DFLer from Woodbury, was charged with first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools. If found guilty, Mitchell could face prison time. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutor Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald argues Mitchell entered stepmother Carol Mitchell’s house with the intent to steal. The defense counters that she entered the house to check on her stepmother.

Earlier this week in the trial, investigators testified, the prosecution showed body camera footage from Nicole Mitchell’s arrest and evidence from the resulting investigation. The jury also heard from friends and relatives of Carol Mitchell who testified about her fear of Nicole Mitchell. One of Nicole Mitchell’s aunts testified that Carol Mitchell’s communications became increasingly paranoid in the months following the death of her husband Rod Mitchell.

Mitchell: Signs of Alzheimer’s disease

In her testimony Thursday, Nicole Mitchell said she first noticed signs of Alzheimer’s in her stepmother in 2020, when Carol Mitchell did not recall a conversation that had just happened. She said Carol Mitchell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2022.

After Rod Mitchell’s death, in March 2023, some of Nicole Mitchell’s aunts stepped in to help Carol Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell said. At the same time, Carol Mitchell grew closer with family members on the other side of the family, with whom she had historically had rifts.

“She started cycling through people that she trusted,” Nicole Mitchell said.

As Rod Mitchell’s child, Nicole Mitchell’s name was on probate court papers as Carol Mitchell sorted out Rod Mitchell’s affairs. Nicole Mitchell said Carol Mitchell seemed paranoid that her name was on the documents.

One of Nicole Mitchell’s attorneys, Dane DeKrey, showed texts between Carol Mitchell and Nicole Mitchell from June 2023 in which each party was friendly with the other. Nicole Mitchell cried as she read the messages.

Text messages

Nicole Mitchell recounted another text conversation with Carol Mitchell in March 2024. DeKrey showed messages over a conflict between Nicole Mitchell and Carol Mitchell for the interment of Rod Mitchell’s ashes.

The conversation showed the interment was scheduled for a day when Nicole Mitchell could not be present because of legislative duties. In the texts, Carol Mitchell said the funeral home picked the date. Nicole Mitchell testified that she called the funeral home to confirm Carol Mitchell set the date and that other dates were available.

“I was feeling so emotionally beat up by that point,” said a tearful Nicole Mitchell.

She told jurors about Carol Mitchell giving her a laptop and how she was able to access Carol Mitchell’s medical records through that it. Medical records accessed April 20, 2024, indicated Carol Mitchell had gotten lost on the way to an appointment, making Nicole Mitchell worried about her driving.

Drive to Detroit Lakes

She drove to Detroit Lakes in April of 2024 to check on her stepmother instead of getting the state involved because the process could take months, she said.

Nicole Mitchell said she planned to enter the house and check on Carol Mitchell without her knowing so as not to make her stepmother upset or paranoid about her intentions.

Nicole Mitchell explained the items she took with her to Detroit Lakes. The prybar she packed was to open a screen door that had a tendency to stick. She brought flashlight gloves she typically used for camping. A flashlight covered by a black sock was found on Nicole Mitchell when she was arrested. She said it was covered because it belongs to one of her sons. The son has nightmares and sometimes uses the flashlight when sleeping.

Nicole Mitchell brought two laptops with her. One was her work laptop. The other was the laptop Carol Mitchell gave her, as Nicole Mitchell intended to return it that morning, she told jurors.

Entered through a window

Nicole Mitchell said she wore all black and parked a block over so neighbors would not notice she was at her stepmother’s house.

When she arrived at her stepmother’s house, she could see the door was barricaded by a chair and some kind of bar, Nicole Mitchell said, so she entered through a window. She said the window came open easily.

In the house, Nicole Mitchell said she performed a check on the basement and kitchen before entering Carol Mitchell’s bedroom to try to find Carol Mitchell’s phone. Nicole Mitchell said she wanted to check her stepmother’s phone because she was concerned about what she might be removing from it.

When Nicole Mitchell was standing in the bedroom, Carol Mitchell woke up and saw her, Nicole Mitchell said. Carol Mitchell got up, bumped into Nicole Mitchell and grabbed her, she said. Then, Nicole Mitchell ran away and into Carol Mitchell’s basement.

911 call, arrest

In a 911 call and testifying herself at the trial, Carol Mitchell said she stepped on the person who broke into her house.

As her stepmother was calling the police, Nicole Mitchell tried to shove the backpack out of a small basement window, she said. When police arrived, she was in a basement bathroom, which she came out of. She was subsequently arrested.

As Nicole Mitchell testified, she asserted that she did not take anything from the house, even though there were things she wanted.

“Stuff is never more important than the person, and I was just worried,” Nicole Mitchell said.

‘Sometimes to protect family members, you have to lie’

When Nicole Mitchell was arrested, she told officers multiple times that she entered the home to retrieve some of her father’s things.

DeKrey asked Mitchell why she told law enforcement officers she intended to retrieve items when it was not true.

“This is something I’ve had to anguish over for the last year,” Nicole Mitchell said.

She said she lied to officers in an attempt to calm Carol Mitchell down. She said she worried her stepmother would be more upset if she learned Nicole Mitchell had entered the home to perform a welfare check.

DeKrey asked Nicole Mitchell how the jury could believe she was not lying to them as she testified.

“Sometimes to protect family members, you have to lie,” Nicole Mitchell said.