A Becker County judge agreed to delay the sentencing of former state Sen. Nicole Mitchell on her burglary conviction after her legal team requested a continuance because of an illness.
Mitchell had been set to appear in court Wednesday. But Judge Michael Fritz granted the request and set a new sentencing date for Sept. 23. A Becker County jury convicted Mitchell on July 18 on two felony counts for breaking into the Detroit Lakes home of her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, last year. It took jurors three hours of deliberation to find her guilty.
In his motion, attorney Dane DeKrey stated that he had an illness that precluded him from “adequately preparing for the Sept. 10 hearing.”
DeKrey, with the Moorhead, Minn.-based law firm Ringstrom DeKrey, declined to comment when contacted by the Minnesota Star Tribune this week. In his motion he said “the state will suffer no prejudice from this small request. Despite this, the state objects to Ms. Mitchell’s motion.”
Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald objected to the delay. He said in court filings that it’s been nearly 500 days since Mitchell “committed these serious felony offenses.”
“The case/trial was continued numerous times due to various unforeseen circumstances, which has had visible adverse effects on the victim. Even after swift guilty verdicts were delivered by a Becker County jury, defendant has remained free in the community,” McDonald said.
The 2025 legislative session delayed Mitchell’s original trial date set for January. The trial was delayed again after the assassination of state Rep. Melissa Hortman when it was discovered that Mitchell was on the “hit list” of the Hortmans’ alleged killer, Vance Boelter. The prosecution didn’t object to the delay then.
McDonald said in his court filing that he is not unsympathetic to DeKrey’s temporary ailment. “However, this is the real advantage to having co-counsel on a case. During trial, defendant had three attorneys litigating on her behalf,” he said.
