Latest news with #NicoleMitchell
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell asks judge to dismiss burglary tool charge in home break-in case
Ethics committee at an impasse over what to do about Sen. Nicole Mitchell Ethics committee at an impasse over what to do about Sen. Nicole Mitchell Ethics committee at an impasse over what to do about Sen. Nicole Mitchell Nicole Mitchell, the Democratic Minnesota state senator accused of burglarizing her stepmother's Detroit Lakes home in April 2024, is seeking to have one of her criminal charges dismissed, citing "prosecutorial vindictiveness." Mitchell was first charged in Becker County with first-degree burglary just hours after the alleged break-in on April 22, 2024. Her trial was set to start on January 27, but she successfully petitioned to delay proceedings until after the legislative session on June 16. But in early February, prosecutors filed an amended complaint containing an additional charge of possession of burglary or theft tools. Court documents note a blue crowbar was found near an egress window in Mitchell's stepmother's basement, and Mitchell allegedly told authorities she entered the home through a basement window. In Tuesday's filing, Mitchell's legal team claims the prosecution's move to add the tool charge soon after the trial's delay was retaliatory in nature and violates her right to due process. They also seek an evidentiary hearing to question Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald, "as he is the only person who can speak to why the state included a new charge in its amended complaint," the filling states. Sen. Nicole Mitchell WCCO Her legal team also accuses McDonald's office of filing the second charge in order to give "the state two bites at the apple instead of one." "The two charges are inextricably intertwined, meaning it's hard to envision a scenario where Nicole can be guilty of possessing burglary tools but not of committing burglary," her attorneys note in the filing. Her attorneys also allege the added charge will force the jury to "play King Solomon, and split the baby," a reference to the Hebrew Bible story, asserting Mitchell will ultimately be found guilty of something. "This is problematic because it's both legally inconsistent and unfair to Nicole," her attorneys wrote. According to the criminal complaint, Mitchell's stepmother called 911 to report the 2024 burglary, and Detroit Lakes police arrived to see Mitchell fleeing to the basement. Mitchell, who police say was dressed in black, allegedly told police she had entered the home to retrieve personal items connected to her recently deceased father after her stepmother cut off contact with her and other family members. The complaint states officers found a backpack with two laptops inside, a cellphone, Tupperware, items identifying Mitchell and a sock-covered flashlight. "Clearly I'm not good at this," Mitchell allegedly told officers, according to court documents. "I know I did something bad." Since she was first charged last year, Mitchell, a former TV meteorologist and Air National Guard commander, has survived two attempts by her Republican Senate colleagues to expel her from the Capitol. The DFL Party, however, expelled Mitchell from her committee assignments and caucus meetings days after her arrest. NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is March 13, 2025.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Push to release Sen. Nicole Mitchell arrest video gets new chance on appeal
The Minnesota Court of Appeals is asking a lower court to consider once again whether to release police video from the arrest of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell for suspected first-degree burglary last April. Conservative news website Alpha News filed a court action last year seeking the release of body and dash camera footage captured by police as they found Mitchell in her estranged stepmother's Detroit Lakes home last April. The group argued that Mitchell and her attorneys made public statements that contradicted the police account of her arrest and that there was a 'strong public interest and benefit in knowing about the truth related to criminal charges against a sitting State Senator.' Becker County Judge Gretchen Thilmony ruled that Mitchell's rights as a person accused of a crime outweighed public interest in her case and did not release arrest videos. But in a Monday ruling, a panel of three appeals court judges said the lower court needed to consider the broader public benefit that could come from releasing a video tied to a case involving an elected official. The ruling written by Appeals Court Judge Elizabeth Bentley did not take any position on whether it would be in the public interest to release the video, but now the district court must reevaluate Alpha News' request. Mitchell, a DFL senator from Woodbury, is scheduled to go to trial for a first-degree burglary charge after the 2025 regular legislative session ends in May. The trial was originally scheduled for January, but under state law, legislators can delay their trials until the conclusion of business at the state Capitol. The arrest came after police responded to a break-in call in the early morning hours of April 22, 2024, and found the senator in her stepmother's home. Mitchell said she was trying to retrieve her father's ashes and other sentimental items and that her stepmother suffers from dementia. 'Clearly I'm not good at this,' Mitchell allegedly told officers, later adding she knew 'she did something bad.' In ethics complaints, Senate Republicans have questioned contradictions between Mitchell's account of events and those outlined in the charges. Alpha News argued the contradictions warranted the release of the body camera videos. After her release from jail, Mitchell made a post on social media where she said she entered the house to check on her stepmother, who had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The stepmother had obtained a restraining order against Mitchell and told multiple media outlets that she fears her stepdaughter. Mitchell claimed her stepmother suffers from 'paranoia' because of her condition. 'The release of the body camera footage is essential to provide clarity about the events of April 22, 2024,' Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement. 'The public deserves transparency and accountability, and I hope the court will stand with them in that pursuit. Legislators must be held to a higher standard, not shielded from consequences because of the office they hold.' Mitchell now faces two felony charges in connection with the break-in, where prosecutors allege the senator used a crowbar to pry open a basement window. Prosecutors filed a burglary tools charge in February, nearly 10 months after Mitchell's arrest on a first-degree burglary charge. In a statement on the appeals court decision, Mitchell's defense attorney. Bruce Ringstrom Jr. said releasing body camera footage could create a jury selection problem with the trial set to begin in just two months. 'The judge presiding over the criminal case has already ordered that video coverage of the trial is allowed,' he said in an email. 'Release of the evidence before the criminal trial jeopardizes due process.' Mitchell, a first-term senator and former broadcast meteorologist who is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was elected in 2022 and is in the third year of her four-year term. She is scheduled to face election again until 2026. Despite calls from fellow DFLers to resign, Mitchell has said she won't leave office. Repeated efforts by minority Senate Republicans to remove her from office have failed as they would require significant levels of support from Democrats. St. Paul nonprofit pays $7.3M to turn Bandana Square hotel into emergency shelter Minnesota health department cuts 170 jobs after federal COVID grant freeze With shortfalls on horizon, Minnesota budget targets feature big cuts Will Minnesota lawmakers raise taxes this session? 2,350 Minnesotans were sterilized under state's 1925 eugenics law — most of them women
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ethics panel deadlocks on complaints against senator charged with felony — again
A Republican push to oust a Democratic-Farmer-Labor state senator accused of felony burglary has stalled once again in the Senate's ethics committee. At a Thursday hearing, the Senate Subcommittee on Ethics deadlocked 2-2 on partisan lines on two new complaints against Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, who was arrested last April in Detroit Lakes on suspicion of breaking into her estranged stepmother's home. The committee will take up the matter again after Mitchell's trial. Mitchell has faced calls to resign since her arrest — including from members of her own party — but Republican efforts to remove her from office have failed in the Senate, where Democrats currently have a one-seat majority. Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell last year and renewed their efforts in February after prosecutors filed an additional felony charge against the senator. One of the two new complaints includes the additional charge. In a second complaint, Republicans argue Mitchell had a conflict of interest when she voted to block a Senate motion that would have opened the path to an expulsion vote. When that motion came up in January, the Senate was tied 33-33 between the parties following the death of Minneapolis DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic. If Mitchell didn't vote, Republicans would have prevailed 33-32. However, if that motion did succeed, an expulsion vote still required backing from 45 of the Senate's 67 members to pass. It's unlikely 12 DFLers would vote with Republicans to deprive themselves of a majority. DFLers argue Mitchell should face due process, and that there shouldn't be any action on Mitchell until her trial is complete. Right now that's scheduled for June — after the legislative session ends. It was originally scheduled for January but Mitchell's attorney's obtained a delay because state lawmakers can postpone trials if it coincides with the legislative session. While prospects of Mitchell's removal remain remote, the GOP continues to push for discipline. The four members of the Senate ethics committee — two DFLers and two Republicans — heard hours of testimony Thursday from Mitchell and Republican senators on the new complaints. A measure to find probable cause that Mitchell violated Senate ethics rules and another to investigate Mitchell further failed on party lines. Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, argued Mitchell had a conflict of interest while voting on her own fate in the senate. 'There can be no greater conflict of interest than the threat of losing one's job in its entirety,' he said, noting the pay, benefits and other privileges that come from serving in office. 'She had everything to gain from casting her decisive vote on Jan. 27 and everything to lose.' Mitchell, meanwhile, argued Senate rules specifically apply to measures where a member has a financial interest such as ownership of a company or stocks, not employment. 'We all vote on things that impact ourselves because we are also citizens of Minnesota,' Mitchell told the committee, using bonding bills funding district projects as an example. Further, Mitchell said she did not vote on her expulsion, but a procedural vote which would have opened that possibility. If an expulsion vote happened, Mitchell said she would excuse herself. Politics | DFL candidate wins special election, returning Minnesota House to tie Politics | Former Minnesota Sen. Melisa López Franzen to run for U.S. Senate in 2026 Politics | Control of Minnesota House depends on Roseville area special election Tuesday Politics | Economic 'uncertainty' drives down Minnesota's surplus, grows projected future deficit Politics | Minnesota lawmakers assess possible impacts of congressional Republican budget plan
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate GOP files new ethics complaints against Nicole Mitchell, state senator facing felony burglary charges
Minnesota Senate Republicans are leaning into their push to force state Sen. Nicole Mitchell from office after the Woodbury Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmaker was hit with another felony charge tied to her alleged break-in at her stepmother's home last year. In an ethics complaint filed Tuesday, Senate Republicans argued Mitchell had a conflict of interest when she voted to block a motion that would have opened her to an expulsion vote. They also filed an updated ethics complaint which includes her new charge of felony burglary tools possession, which prosecutors filed on Feb. 10. Mitchell now faces two felony charges in connection with the April 22 break-in, where prosecutors allege the senator used a crowbar to pry open a basement window of her stepmother's home in Detroit Lakes. Mitchell, who pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial on June 16, told officers she was there to retrieve her father's ashes and other sentimental items, according to the criminal complaint. The first-term DFL senator has declined to resign even as members of her own party, including Gov. Tim Walz, have called on her to do so. Minority Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell last year based on the initial felony charge and pushed for votes to remove her from office, but so far they haven't succeeded. It takes a two-thirds majority of the 67-member Senate to remove a member, and while some DFLers have said Mitchell should step down, Republicans need 12 to break rank to reach the 45-vote threshold. While the DFL has a 34-33 majority, on Jan. 27, the Senate was tied 33-33 between the parties following the death of Minneapolis DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic the month before. Republicans pushed to put a removal vote before the Senate when the parties were still tied, but it failed on party lines. If Mitchell hadn't participated, Republicans could have prevailed 33-32. At a Tuesday news conference announcing the new and updated complaints, Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, said Mitchell had a 'personal and financial interest' in the outcome. 'Sen. Mitchel deliberately and defiantly violated the rules of ethical conduct of the Minnesota Senate,' Drazkowski said. 'Our contention is simple, Sen. Mitchell has a conflict of interest in any vote related to her political future.' A Senate ethics committee will have to hear the complaint within a month, but it's unlikely the new Republican complaints will gain traction. Last year, the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct deadlocked on the initial complaint against Mitchell on partisan lines. The committee, which must hear complaints within 30 days, has two DFL and two Republican members even with an overall DFL majority in the Senate. The new complaints will need to be heard soon. Democrats have maintained that Mitchell must have a trial before the Senate can decide to act. 'As I have maintained since April, Senator Mitchell is owed due process. That includes the adjudication of her case in court, and the consideration of ethics in the Senate,' Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said in a statement. 'The subcommittee on ethics will continue to play its role in due time.' Mitchell's attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. said changes to charges against Mitchell shouldn't warrant a new ethics complaint as they don't introduce any new evidence in the case. 'Without any actual evidence to support a new ethics complaint, there shouldn't be another hearing scheduled,' he said in a statement. Michell was originally scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27, but a judge agreed to delay the trial until after the legislative session. Judge Michael D. Fritz sided with Mitchell's attorneys, who cited state law barring members of the Legislature from being tried for crimes during the session or when they are attending committee business. Prosecutors argued the seriousness of the alleged offense warranted an exception, but Fritz said the law does not differentiate between levels of charges. Mitchell, a first-term senator and former broadcast meteorologist who is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was elected in 2022 and is in the third year of her four-year term. She isn't scheduled to face election again until 2026. Politics | Trump moves on budget, policy spill over to Minnesota Legislature Politics | SPPS Board of Education to vote on cell phone policy Tuesday Politics | Minnesota GOP files first petitions aimed at unseating DFL House members Politics | Legal sports betting odds in Minnesota murky as ever as bill hits Senate snag Politics | Letters: Who wants to prevent discovery of fraud?
CBS News
18-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Watch live: Minnesota Republicans announce new ethics complaints against state Sen. Nicole Mitchell
A group of Minnesota Senate Republicans is announcing new and updated ethics complaints against embattled state Sen. Nicole Mitchell at the Capitol in St. Paul Tuesday afternoon. It comes days after Mitchell was charged with a second count in connection to a burglary at a Detroit Lakes home. Mitchell, a Democrat representing District 47 in Woodbury, is accused of burglary at what was her stepmother's house on April 22, 2024. State Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson will be joined by other Republican leaders in announcing the complaints. How to watch Earlier this month, Mitchell was charged with possession of burglary or theft tools in addition to the original charge of first-degree burglary. Mitchell has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree burglary charge. Mitchell was wearing black clothing when officers found her in the basement, according to the complaint. They found a flashlight with a sock on it and a black backpack nearby. The backpack contained two laptops, a cellphone, Tupperware and identifying documents for Mitchell. Investigators said Mitchell told them her father had recently died and her stepmother wouldn't talk to Mitchell or other family members. "Clearly I'm not good at this," she said talking to police, adding, "I know I did something bad." Mitchell told authorities she got into the house through a basement window. The trial for Mitchell is scheduled to happen within 60 days of May 19, 2025. The trial was originally scheduled to start last month, but a Becker County judge granted a motion to delay the trial until after the legislative session. GOP senators failed in an attempt to expel Mitchell at the State Capitol on Jan. 27, 2025. An expulsion vote against her in 2024 also failed.
