Burglary trial for DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell delayed until after legislative session

Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s first-degree burglary trial was postponed Friday until after the legislative session ends on May 19.

Becker County District Judge Michael Fritz granted a defense motion to delay the trial that was set to begin Jan. 27 in Detroit Lakes. Fritz said the trial should occur within 60 days of the Legislature’s adjournment.

“If a legislator is forced to stand trial during the legislative session, their constituents would be without a voice during that session,” Fritz wrote, adding that a Minnesota law seeks “to avoid this very situation.”

The senator is a first-term legislator beginning her third session. Her arrest in April 2024 upended the end of the session in which DFLers held only a 34-33 advantage over the GOP. The Senate is currently tied with 33 members in each party but is expected to return to the one-vote DFL advantage after a special election Jan. 28 to fill the Minneapolis seat held by late DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic.

Early on a Monday morning last April, Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, was arrested in the Detroit Lakes home her late father had shared with her stepmother. The senator was charged with a single charge of first-degree burglary. The senator said she was trying to obtain sentimental items. She has pleaded not guilty.

Last Friday, Mitchell’s lawyers filed a surprise motion, citing a Minnesota law allowing for the delay of court proceedings when the Legislature is in session.

The request cited a 2007 state Court of Appeals decision authorizing “the postponement of a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding in which a legislator is involved as a party.”

Fritz said the law is clear that the delay must be granted. He found the duration of the postponement until May to be “not unreasonable.”

“That is not an excessively long delay for a felony case which is less than a year old,” Fritz’s seven-page order read. “This is also the first request for a continuance in this matter. This case has not been unduly delayed or prolonged.”

He noted Mitchell’s reason for the request is “to be able to represent her constituents during the legislative session. This is not an illegitimate reason” and is specifically permitted by state law, Fritz wrote.

After her arrest last year, Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell. Action on that complaint has been postponed pending resolution of the criminal case.

Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks denounced the ruling, saying the Senate “has a responsibility to hold itself to the highest standards. It’s been months of questions and speculation about” Mitchell’s actions last April.

He noted that Mitchell could have allowed the trial to go forward to a “swift conclusion.”

During a hearing Tuesday on the delay request, Mitchell’s attorney Dane DeKrey said the defense team sought the postponement once they became aware of the law and “felt ethically obligated to make a motion.”

DeKrey also noted the change in the political landscape since April 2024. “Fundamentally, state government in Minnesota is teetering 50-50,” he said. “We believe that because of what’s going on in St. Paul, a blast radius of that gridlock puts this trial’s fairness at risk. Is that risk going to be gone after session? No. … But it’s undoubtedly going to be lower.”

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald countered that the Legislature wasn’t meant to be a safe haven, shielding someone from justice. “She put herself in this situation on her own time during the last legislative session,” McDonald said.

The criminal matter is one of multiple legal issues snarling the legislative session. Next Thursday, the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a dispute between the House Republicans, the House DFL caucus and Secretary of State Steve Simon over how many members must be present in the chamber to conduct business.

Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.