Alpha News appeals judge’s ruling in Sen. Nicole Mitchell bodycam case

The appeal challenges a recent ruling by Becker County Judge Gretchen Thilmony, who denied Alpha News' request to release the footage.

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Sen. Nicole Mitchell appears with attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. before the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct in May. (Minnesota Senate Media Services)

Alpha News has filed an appeal seeking swift access to body-camera footage from the arrest of Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell.

Filed with the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday by the Upper Midwest Law Center, the appeal challenges a recent ruling by Becker County Judge Gretchen Thilmony, who denied Alpha News’ request to release the footage. Alpha News has argued that the public release of the footage would help shed light on Mitchell’s arrest for alleged first-degree burglary at her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes residence on April 22, 2024.

“We respectfully disagree with the district court’s decision and believe that the people of Minnesota deserve to know what really happened when Senator Mitchell was arrested on suspicion of felony burglary the morning of April 22,” said James Dickey, senior counsel with the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC). “We will be asking the Court of Appeals to expedite this appeal to get the fast answers that Gov. Walz and others have called for in this matter.”

Alpha News contends that public interest outweighs any potential harm in disclosing the footage, citing Gov. Tim Walz’s earlier call for transparency and accountability in the situation.

“There are two reasons to expedite this appeal: (1) the public continues to seek further
information about what happened on April 22, 2024 when Senator Mitchell was arrested,
and (2) an expedited appeal would allow the Minnesota Senate to access more information
and proceed on the ethics complaint filed against Senator Mitchell, which is currently in a holding pattern for the very reason that the type of information this lawsuit seeks has yet
to be disclosed,” the appeal states.

UMLC filed an initial motion on behalf of Alpha News in late April after Mitchell was arrested on first-degree burglary charges. The first-term Democrat from Woodbury allegedly broke into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in the middle of the night dressed in all black and carrying a modified flashlight. Mitchell said she was seeking several items related to her late father including pictures, a flannel shirt, and her father’s ashes, according to the charges.

Since then, Sen. Mitchell and her attorney have made public statements that conflict with the details outlined in the criminal complaint.

“It is now July, and still no answers have been provided. Minnesotans, and especially Senator Mitchell’s constituents, deserve further information about what happened on April 22,” the appeal says.

Additionally, the appeal notes that a Senate ethics subcommittee tasked with investigating Mitchell’s conduct has postponed its proceedings and “may have to wait for
body-worn camera and dash-camera footage to be released during or after Senator
Mitchell’s criminal trial.”

“That means, absent relief from this Court, another legislative session in Minnesota
will likely be overshadowed by ethics complaints and uncertainty. Minnesotans should
know what the footage shows before then,” it says.

Since the incident, Mitchell’s stepmother has told the media that she believes Mitchell meant her “physical harm.”

“She was dressed like a burglar at the foot of my bed … I get goosebumps just talking about it,” Carol Mitchell told KSTP, acknowledging that she was “very recently diagnosed with very early stages of Alzheimer’s.”

Since her arrest, Mitchell has resisted bipartisan calls for her resignation and was the deciding vote on major pieces of legislation in the 2024 session’s closing days.

“In sum, the public has been demanding further information about the arrest of
Senator Mitchell for months,” the appeal concludes. “As a news organization, Petitioner would like to provide it. Waiting for the usual appeals process to run its course would require Petitioner, the public, and the Minnesota Senate to continue to wait, prejudicing the public interest, potentially until after the next legislative session has begun.”

 

Hayley Feland

Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.