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Friday, July 18, 2025
Jury Finds Sen. Nicole Mitchell Guilty
Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, testified on her own behalf at her burglary trial. Photo: Pool via The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
by Pat Mack | Published on July 18, 2025
A Becker County jury this afternoon has found Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, guilty of one count of felony burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for about three hours.
Mitchell admitted to breaking into her stepmother’s house in Detroit Lakes in the early morning of April 22, 2024. But she testified that she wasn’t committing a burglary but instead was checking on the welfare of the stepmother who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Becker County District Judge Michael Fritz told the jurors they needed to decide Mitchell’s intent was to commit a crime for her to be found guilty.
“Whether the crime was intended must be determined from all of the circumstances including the manner and time of entry or remaining in the dwelling, the nature of the dwelling and its contents, any items the defendant may have had in possession and all of the other evidence in this case,” Fritz read from his juror instructions.