18-07-2025
Defense rests in Sen. Nicole Mitchell's burglary trial
The defense team of Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell has rested its case on Friday in her burglary trial, and her fate will soon be in the jury's hands.
On Friday morning, the defense called two more witnesses on the senator's behalf: her aunt Cindy Lee Marky and Jay Brody, superintendent of the 126th Combat Weather Flight in Wisconsin. Brody used to be under the senator's command in the Air National Guard.
The Democratic senator is pleading not guilty to first-degree burglary and possessing burglary theft or tools in connection to a break-in at her stepmother's Detroit Lakes home in April 2024.
She spent more than five hours on the witness stand Thursday, admitting she broke into the home of her late father, Rod Mitchell, but saying her sole purpose was to check on stepmother Carol Mitchell, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and not to harm her or to take anything.
At one point, she denied the idea that she could be trespassing.
"To me, I understand I did the wrong thing," the senator said. "To me, it felt different because it was my parent's house and I had a key and I've been in and out of there for years."
Nicole Mitchell has survived multiple expulsion attempts by her Republican Senate colleagues, but the body's DFL Caucus did remove her from committee assignments and caucus meetings days after her arrest.
WCCO will offer special, extended coverage of Mitchell's trial online and on CBS News Minnesota.
This story will be updated.
