From the moment anti-gun Minnesota state Senator Nicole Mitchell was arrested for burglarizing her stepmother’s home last April, I honestly believed that the lawmaker and Moms Demand Action ally would take a plea deal instead of going to trial.
Well, I was wrong. I don’t know if a deal was even offered, but whether or not one was dangled in her direction, Mitchell’s felony trial kicked off this week in a Becker County, Minnesota courtroom.
Nicole Mitchell’s stepmother, Carol Mitchell, testified late Tuesday morning, although she opted not to be recorded on camera during her testimony.
During the testimony, Carol Mitchell said she felt “extremely violated,” when her home was broken into.
“It was frightening,” she said. “I didn’t dare to stay there. I moved out.”
She added that she was surprised to learn that Nicole Mitchell had broken in, and she had not given her stepdaughter permission to enter the home. She said she moved back into her home after a security system was installed.
The defense then asked Carol Mitchell if her stepdaughter cared about her safety or well-being.
“I don’t believe so,” she told the court. “Nicole never let me get close to her.”
Mitchell told police at the time that she knew she did “something bad”, but that she was trying to get some of her late father’s belongings from his home. Unfortunately for her, Mitchell’s stepmother was the legal resident of the home, and as she testified on Monday, hadn’t given her stepdaughter permission to come inside… much less take anything.
Prosecutors used Mitchell’s own words against her during opening arguments on Monday.
The prosecutor, Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald, opened his argument with a statement attributed to Mitchell as she was arrested in her stepmother’s house: “I know I did something bad.”
“I ask that you specifically remember those words throughout the trial,” McDonald said.
During her arrest, Mitchell made clear confessions, McDonald said. He claimed evidence in the trial would show the residence Mitchell entered was not her home, that she was not invited and that she pried a window open with a crowbar.
“The defendant entered her stepmother’s home with a purpose — to steal,” McDonald said.
Mitchell’s defense team, on the other hand, sought to portray her as being concerned about her stepmother, who has Azlheimer’s which is why she broke in dressed all in black with a stocking over her flashlight.
“Our defense is, there is no clear roadmap for helping an aging parent — there can be good days and bad days,” Ringstrom said.
As police were called to the house the morning of her arrest, Nicole Mitchell did not run away, Ringstrom said. “Nicole Mitchell’s intent is to check on Carol Mitchell. A burglar runs, a concerned child stays,” he said.
Nicole Mitchell’s intent when she entered her stepmother’s house is the real issue in the case, he said, noting the defense does not dispute that she entered the house without consent.
There are two possible reasons for Nicole Mitchell to enter the house, Ringstrom said: to steal or to check on Carol Mitchell. Unless the state’s evidence can rule out that she was there to check on her stepmother, the verdict must be not guilty, Ringstrom argued.
Here’s the problem with Ringstrom’s argument: there’s no evidence whatsoever that Mitchell even tried to check on her stepmother after breaking into the home. In fact, in her initial 911 call, her stepmother frantically told a dispatcher that she had discovered an intruder when she stepped on them as she was getting out of bed.
Bodycam footage shown on Monday also contradicts Ringstrom’s opening argument.
In the [bodycam] video, [Detroit Lakes Investigator Joseph] Sternhagen orders Nicole Mitchell to the ground. Face down, Nicole Mitchell calls out to Carol Mitchell.
“Carol, it’s Nicole. I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore,” Nicole Mitchell said.
As the video continues, Carol Mitchell accuses Nicole Mitchell of stealing documents, which Nicole Mitchell denies. At one point, Nicole Mitchell mentions her late father.
“My dad died last year, she’s paranoid — well now she’s really paranoid,” Nicole Mitchell said of Carol Mitchell.
The video shows Mitchell being walked up the stairs, outside and to a squad car.
“I know, I did something bad,” Mitchell said in the car.
Mitchell didn’t say “I just wanted to check on you because I was concerned.” She said she was there to take some stuff out of the residence. Those things might have belonged to her dad, but that doesn’t mean that Mitchell was entitled to them, and she certainly wasn’t allowed to use a crowbar to gain entry to the home in the middle of the night to sneak off with the stuff that was found in her backpack at the scene.
The defense has its work cut out for it when it comes to explaining away Mitchell’s own statements at the scene, which corroborate the prosecution’s version of events. I’ve been wrong once before about this case, but I’d be shocked if Mitchell isn’t convicted once the jury has heard all the evidence from both sides.
Mitchell has been a reliable supporter gun control bills in the closely divided Minnesota Senate, where her fellow Democrats fell in line to keep her in office (and available for votes) after her arrest. Anti-gun groups like Moms Demand Action, meanwhile, have managed to ignore Mitchell’s arrest and legal troubles altogether. If she’s convicted of a felony Democrats might not have any choice but to expel her, but at this point I doubt we’ll ever hear anything more about the state senator from Mitchell’s anti-gun friends.
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