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.
District court must reevaluate request
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.
Mitchell’s attorney: Release could jeopardize due process
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.