DETROIT LAKES, Minn. >> After three days of testimony, a Becker County jury found Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell guilty of two felony burglary charges.

The courtroom was silent as Judge Michael Fritz read the verdict. Mitchell, a DFL lawmaker from Woodbury, was found guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools.

The jury, consisting of nine men and three women, reached the guilty verdict after around three hours of deliberation.

Mitchell was charged after she was arrested in her stepmother’s house in the early hours of April 22, 2024. She had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a statement after the verdict was read, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said that Mitchell had told colleagues she would resign if found guilty.

“Senator Mitchell has been afforded due process, a trial by a jury of her peers, and that jury has delivered a verdict,” Murphy said. “… The case’s resolution brings clarity to the situation. Senator Mitchell has told colleagues that she intended to resign if found guilty of this crime, and I expect her to follow through on that pledge. Our caucus remains focused on the issues that matter to Minnesotan families and communities.”The DFL holds the Senate majority with one seat — Mitchell’s resignation would bring that chamber to a tie until her seat is filled.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement on the verdict that if Mitchell doesn’t resign she “must be expelled as soon as possible to protect the integrity of the Senate.”

Prosecutor: Body cam footage was key

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald, who prosecuted the case, argued Mitchell entered the home with the intent to steal items that had belonged to her late father, now in her stepmother’s possession. He focused on statements Mitchell made as she was arrested, her attire and items she had with her.

When she was arrested, Mitchell told her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, and law enforcement officers that she entered the house to retrieve some of her late father’s things. She was dressed in all black with a black stocking cap. Mitchell brought items such as a small prybar, flashlight covered by a black sock and flashlight gloves.

After the trial, McDonald said body camera footage helped seal the verdict.

“I’m just very thankful for the jurors, for all their time this week and I’m pleased for Carol Mitchell, for some justice,” McDonald said.

After the verdict was read, McDonald asked for the judge to revoke Nicole Mitchell’s terms of release from custody. The judge denied the motion. McDonald declined to comment on why he wanted Mitchell to go to jail right away.

Defense: Mitchell was checking on stepmom

The defense attempted to sow seeds of doubt in the state’s argument that Nicole Mitchell entered the house to steal. They argued she entered the house to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s.

The argument hinged on Nicole Mitchell’s concern for her stepmother, family accounts of the stepmother’s Alzheimer’s-related decline and the fact that Nicole Mitchell did not have items belonging to her stepmother or late father when she was arrested.

Dane DeKrey, one of Nicole Mitchell’s attorneys, confirmed the body camera footage was a hurdle for the defense. He said Nicole Mitchell is one of the strongest people he knows.

“Very few people get up in their defense, they testify for that many hours, subjected to the cross examination, willing to have their lives looked at, peered into that way,” DeKrey said. “I’m proud of her.”

The judge did not set a sentencing date for Nicole Mitchell on Friday.

The felony burglary charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least six months in jail or a county workhouse, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Felony possession of burglary tools carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

DeKrey said he had no idea if Mitchell planned to resign from the Senate.

“This is not about politics, this was never supposed to be about politics,” DeKrey said. “We didn’t talk about that.”

DFL Party Chairman Richard Carlbom urged people to respect the verdict and legal process.

“As to Mitchell’s position in the senate, I hope that she will hold to her promise and resign immediately,” Carlbom said. “The governor will have more information on a special election shortly.”

Closing arguments Friday

Attorneys gave their closing arguments Friday before the jury left the courtroom to deliberate.

McDonald spoke for around 25 minutes, asking the jury to find Mitchell guilty on both counts. As he did in his opening argument, McDonald cited words Mitchell said when she was arrested: “I know I did something bad.”

“Or rather the defendant knew she did something bad, but now she wants to lie about it,” McDonald said.

McDonald called out a dispute between Mitchell and her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, about her father, Rod Mitchell’s, ashes as the line in the sand for their relationship. At that point, it became Nicole Mitchell’s mission to take back her father’s possessions, McDonald said. She packed tools to help her in that mission, like an all-black outfit, prybar and flashlight covered by a black sock.

“Not even her own moral compass could deter her from her mission,” McDonald said.

He asked the jury to use common sense and good judgment when looking at the evidence presented by the state: items Nicole Mitchell carried with her, claims she made to law enforcement and her testimony that she lied to law enforcement.

One of Mitchell’s attorneys, Bruce Ringstrom Jr., spoke for nearly an hour. He asked the jury to recall times when they may have told white lies. Nicole Mitchell told a white lie that she was there to take her father’s things as she was arrested in an attempt to keep her stepmother calm, he argued.

“She’s not charged with lying,” Ringstrom said.

Ringstrom talked about possible sources of reasonable doubt he saw in the state’s claims that Mitchell intended to steal, like lapses in Carol Mitchell’s memory because of Alzheimer’s and the fact that Nicole Mitchell did not have any of Carol Mitchell’s possessions when she was arrested. Nicole Mitchell could have grabbed items during visits to the house before she was arrested, he said.

Ringstrom brought up law enforcement’s mishandling of evidence, saying police did not keep a backpack Nicole Mitchell brought with her or a note she had with her the night of the break in.

“Unless the state can rule out that Nicole Mitchell entered just to check on Carol, then the verdict must be not guilty,” Ringstrom said.

Carol Mitchell’s family members testified about Carol Mitchell’s fear of Nicole Mitchell, especially surrounding finances. Family members on the Mitchell side told jurors they observed increasing paranoia and behavioral changes related to Carol Mitchell’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Nicole Mitchell testified for nearly five hours Thursday, talking about her concern about her stepmother as she experienced an Alzheimer’s-related mental decline, and intentions to check on her. She walked the room through the events of the morning she was arrested.