MINNESOTA VICE: Trial will be “very difficult” for Sen. Nicole Mitchell to win, Minneapolis attorney says.
It’s a high-stakes trial that could ultimately determine the balance of power in the Minnesota Senate.*
“It has such political ramifications,” said Twin Cities attorney Mike Bryant, who is not affiliated with the case. “I think a lot of people will be watching what happens.”
It was April 2024, when the criminal complaint said Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell‘s stepmother’s called 911 to report a burglary at her Detroit Lakes home. Mitchell allegedly told police she entered the home to retrieve personal items connected to her recently deceased father, because her stepmother had cut off contact.
In a social media post, Mitchell denied all allegations. Mitchell said she had gone to check on a family member with Alzheimer’s disease.
Bryant said he feels Mitchell will have to testify.
“Unless the state has a really super weak case that they can’t prove anything, I think it’s going to be one of those situations where the jury’s going to want to hear from her,” said Bryant.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult to win,” said Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Joe Tamburino, who is also not affiliated with the case. “Let’s face it, according to what’s in the complaint and what we imagine the prosecutor will prove at trial, is that she was found in the house at the very early morning hours, she was dressed in black and she was discovered by her stepmother and then supposedly she ran down to the basement, and then when the police got there, she made a number of incriminating statements.”
Somebody’s taking Michael Walsh’s description of the Democrats as “a criminal organization masquerading as a political party” waaaay too literally:
JUST IN: Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment police arrested MN Senator Nicole Mitchell (D) for first-degree burglary charges.https://t.co/8DyuTai6FJ https://t.co/d8aaMj6pSR
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 15, 2025
Wearing a cat-burglar outfit like a villain in an action movie. This will probably ensure her landslide re-election in Minnesota. https://t.co/O1HnPIOatD
— Mike Gallagher Show (@GallagherShow) July 15, 2025
* Curiously though, CBS Minnesota plays doesn’t name Mitchell’s party in the article.
By the way, Mitchell isn’t the only prominent Minnesota Democrat currently racking up high legal bills: “‘The invoices for a $430,000 legal bill run up by Gov. Tim Walz’s administration to prepare him for a congressional hearing last month ranged from $70 to review a letter inviting him to the hearing to $2,880 for “searches for news or statistics for crimes committed by transgender or nonbinary persons.’ Do we at least get a PDF of what they found?”
Ordinarily you would, but PDFs have been temporarily banned, since they might have e-signatures that could be construed by NBC News with the presidential autopen.