Hearing for Sen. Nicole Mitchell postponed; defense asks for more information

by Kyle Brown of KSTP

A court hearing for a Minnesota legislator accused of burglarizing her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home was again postponed on Monday as her attorneys asked prosecutors to produce more documents related to the case.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, was arrested early the morning of April 22 after she admitted to entering the house in hopes of retrieving her late father’s ashes and some of his belongings, a criminal complaint states.

Mitchell initially claimed in a statement that she was checking on her stepmother, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, defense attorneys have asked state prosecutors for medical records related to the stepmother’s “dementia-related conditions.” The defense also requested a forensic analysis of a computer the senator was accused of stealing to determine if it had connected to a Woodbury IP address prior to the alleged burglary.

Mitchell’s attorneys also filed a motion last week to dismiss the case.

The senator is charged with one count of first-degree burglary. She has not been in court since her initial appearance in April, and a hearing that was originally scheduled for Monday has been delayed to July 9.