Overview

• Prosecutors rested their case July 16 after calling officers and friends to describe how a blue pry bar breached a basement window and alarmed Carol Mitchell
• On July 17, defense witnesses including Carol Mitchell’s biological son and aunt detailed her Alzheimer’s decline and framed Nicole Mitchell’s entry as a caregiving act
• Nicole Mitchell took the stand to explain her decision to retrieve her late father’s belongings and to assess her stepmother’s safety
• Police conceded mishandling key evidence by returning flashlight gloves without logging them, failing to retain a handwritten checklist and not seeking warrants for Mitchell’s car or phone
• A felony conviction could flip the DFL’s one-vote majority in the Minnesota Senate and expose Mitchell to up to 20 years in prison