The felony burglary trial of Minnesota State Senator Nicole Mitchell took a somewhat surprising twist on Thursday when the DLF legislator and Moms Demand Action ally took the stand in her own defense.
On Wednesday, Mitchell's defense attorneys said they weren't sure whether she would testify, and said that the decision would be made after calling several other witnesses. Instead, Mitchell was sworn in around 9:45 on Thursday morning, and testified for several hours about her job history, relationship with her stepmother, and a number of other topics, all while managing to avoid any direct testimony about how she ended up dressed like a cat burglar in the basement of her stepmother's home.
Here's DFL Senator Nicole Mitchell, caught in her Stepmother's house in Detroit Lakes, MN, last year.
— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) July 15, 2025
Senator Mitchell, on trial this week, refused to resign and was protected by her DFL colleagues - went on to co-sponsor and vote for anti-gun legislation while facing burglary… pic.twitter.com/cKxOADs9aM
Mitchell, who's been a staunch supporter of gun control during her time in office, is accused of breaking into her stepmother's house with the intent of stealing several items. At the time of her arrest Mitchell told officers that she was trying to get items that belonged to her late father, but since then her story has changed, and she now claims that she was actually in her stepmother's home to check on her wellbeing.
The biggest problem with that theory, as we pointed out earlier in the week, is that bodycam footage shows Nicole Mitchell's first interaction with her stepmother after police arrived on scene, and she explicitly stated she was “just trying to get a couple" of her dad’s things because Carol Mitchell "wouldn’t talk" to her anymore.
At no point does the bodycam footage ever show the state senator inquiring about Carol Mitchell's health or wellbeing, and the police reports don't indicate that Mitchell ever asked officers how her stepmother was doing. Mitchell did tell police, however, she hoped she didn't "f*** up her life". She also told officers she had just entered the home when she was discovered, though she told the courtroom today that she had basically checked out the entire home before she was discovered. Under cross examination she estimated she had been there for about ten minutes.
The Star Tribune reports that "much of the trial has focused on the disease and less about the alleged burglary," and notes that Carol Mitchell gave "shaky testimony in which she was unable to recall names and dates and didn’t recognize the crowbar found in the egress window later that morning of the break-in on April 22, 2024."
Ordinarily, I'd say that doesn't bode well for the prosecution, but given that Mitchell was caught red-handed in her stepmother's basement I'm not sure that the elder Mitchell's contradictory statements are going to matter all that much, especially given that Nicole Mitchell's own testimony directly contradicts what she repeatedly told police.
The first hours of Mitchell's testimony were clearly designed to make her appear as sympathetic as possible to the jury, including one anecdote she shared about two hours after she first began testifying.
Nicole Mitchell described a situation in March 2024 when Carol Mitchell told her about an internment for her father on the anniversary of his death. The date didn’t work for Nicole Mitchell because it was on a Tuesday and she had work in the state Senate.
Nicole Mitchell read text messages she sent to Carol Mitchell discussing the date when her stepmother initially seemed open to finding a time but later said the funeral home wouldn’t let her change the date. Nicole Mitchell said that she asked the funeral home if a different date worked, which they confirmed, but Carol Mitchell said too many others would have to change their schedules.
“You planned a ceremony without his child and grandchildren,” Nicole Mitchell texted Carol Mitchell. Their conversation deteriorated and they discussed past issues dating back to when Nicole Mitchell was a child.
The internment was one month before the break-in at Carol Mitchell’s Detroit Lakes home.
Even if Carol Mitchell treated her stepdaughter coldly and ignored her desire to be a part of her father's internment, that didn't give Nicole Mitchell the right to break into her stepmother's home, even to check on her wellbeing. Carol Mitchell could have denied Nicole Mitchell access to her late father's belongings, but that too doesn't allow her to forcibly enter a home that's not hers.
Frankly, that's what civil courts are for, just like criminal courts are reserved for crimes... like attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools, which are the charges Nicole Mitchell is facing.
Granted, I'm not an unbiased observer, but I think it was a mistake for the defense to not immediately address the most damning evidence against Mitchell: her own words. Dancing around and ducking the issue for hours isn't a good look, even if the defense is doing so to paint a sympathetic picture of a grieving daughter and a mentally unwell stepmother. Carol Mitchell isn't the one on trial, and I doubt the jury expects her to perfectly recall events that happened a year ago given her disease.
Nicole Mitchell could have testified for days about her care and concern for her stepmother. It doesn't change what she told Carol Mitchell as she was lying on the basement floor; not, "I just needed to see how you were doing", or even "I know I shouldn't have snuck in, but I was worried about you."
Nope. What she said was, "“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.”
Despite some issues with the prosecution's case, which includes lost evidence in addition to Carol Mitchell's shaky testimony, based on the coverage of the trial I think Becker County District Attorney has done a good job of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Nicole Mitchell broke into her stepmother's home with the intent to take property.
The defense, on the other hand, has tried to make the case about anything but Nicole Mitchell being found in the basement of her stepmother's home. That's an understandable strategy. I just don't think it's going to be a successful one, especially since the Star Tribune described her testimony as "long, sometimes rambling", and "nervous".
When Mitchell finally did get around to discussing the events of that night, she admitted that she did not want to be seen by neighbors. She acknowledged that she did not use a key to gain entry to the home, but instead she "decided to get in" through an egress window using a pry bar and her hands. She claimed that she had latex gloves in her backpack in case she needed to clean up any messes like cat feces.
Mitchell repeatedly described herself as "stressed" before and during her entry to the home. She also testified that, once she gained entry to the home, she used the restroom and then "checked the basement" looking for "anything out of sorts". She said she then went upstairs to the main floor, claiming she wanted to check the fridge to make sure there was food inside.
Mitchell also claimed that she wanted to make sure her stepmother had her phone, but couldn't find it in it's usual spot in the kitchen, which is why she decided to enter her stepmother's bedroom. Mitchell testified it was too dark in the bedroom to see the phone, so she just stood there and listened to her stepmother breathe for 10-15 seconds.
Her stepmother woke up, however, and got out of bed, bumping into Mitchell and "grabbing her", saying "what the hell are you doing here?"
Mitchell said she was afraid of a confrontation and "dashed into the hall", with Carol Mitchell chasing after her, so she ran into the basement to put a door between her and her stepmother, then "waited to see what she would do"; eventually determining that her stepmother was calling police.
Mitchell testified she didn't take anything from Mitchell's home, nor did she enter the home to take any of her dad's belongings or mementos, directly contradicting what she told officers on the scene.
"I don't take things," she told her attorney.
So why did she tell Carol Mitchell and police that's why she was there?
When her defense attorney asked that question, Nicole Mitchell said "I'm very sorry I said that, and it's not true", adding that it "caused additional confusion."
"This is something I've had to anguish over for the past year," Mitchell said, which also raises the issue that she's had a year to anguish over what, if anything, she'd say on the stand.
The state senator repeatedly talked about how "stressed" she was, and said she thought that telling her stepmother she was there to take stuff out of the home would be less upsetting than telling her she was doing a welfare check. That was her excuse for her entire behavior after police showed up on scene.
If I'm on the jury, though, I'm still left wondering why Mitchell also told police without her stepmother present that she was there to get some of her dad's things. Why not simply tell the officer what she told the courtroom today, that she was concerned about her stepmother's wellbeing and she was trying to defuse the situation by offering up what she thought was a less provocative reason for being there.
That was actually the very last question her defense attorney act, and Mitchell's response was, "that's hard, because i know what I said," which didn't answer the question
Mitchell then reiterated that she was struggling that morning., but ultimately, her justification was that "sometimes to protect family members you have to lie."
Yeah, and sometimes you have to lie to protect yourself.
On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Mitchell why, in the 37 1/2 minutes she spent with officers, at no time did she mention she was there out of concern for Carol Mitchell. The state senator disagreed with that, but couldn't offer any example of her mentioning a wellness check. On redirect, she agreed with her defense attorney that telling police her stepmother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and was "paranoid" was expressing concern... though it could just as easily be seen as offering up a reason not to believe anything her stepmother had to say.
Mitchell told police one story. She told the courtroom another. She actually told a third story on her Facebook page hours after she was released from jail.
"I was accused of stealing, which I absolutely deny."
Nicole Mitchell was the one who told police she was there to take things that didn't belong to her. She wasn't accused of wanting to steal items, she confessed to that.
That's not the only problematic part of that Facebook post. On the witness stand, she acknowledged that she never told another family member of any of Carol Mitchell's relatives about the medical information which caused her "grave concern." Instead, after not talking to her stepmother for a period of several because of the argument over father's internment, she decided to hop in her car and make a multi-hour trip in the dead of night to check on her by sneaking into her home while she slept.
As Joe Biden would say, "c'mon, man."
There was at least one true statement from Nicole Mitchell's on the witness stand, when she said, "I created this entire situation."
If Mitchell hadn't packed up a backpack with a flashlight, flashlight gloves, and a pry bar and driven more than 200 miles to her stepmother's home, using the pry bar to gain entry to a basement window, and then getting caught by her stepmother inside, she wouldn't be facing felony charges. Her behavior is the reason she was on the witness stand today, and regardless of what verdict the jury reaches, I believe she's demonstrated she's unfit for office.
Closing arguments will take place starting tomorrow morning, and the jury could start deliberations Friday afternoon. If Mitchell is found guilty of the felony, she'll likely have to step down from her elected position, and Democrats will lose their one-seat majority in the state Senate.
Will Democrats demand she step down even if she's acquitted, since she's admitted to (among other things) lying to police, trespassing, and accessing her stepmother's medical records without her permission? I'm not holding my breath, though maybe if a special election can be held before the next session begins they'll roll the dice and feign concern about Mitchell's unethical and illegal behavior.
***Update***
According to the Star Tribune, the defense plans on calling additional witnesses tomorrow, so maybe we won't get to closing arguments after all.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about lawless politicians and their hostility towards the Second Amendment.
Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membershi
Join the conversation as a VIP Member