Court records show state prosecutors have filed a response to oppose a motion to dismiss filed by the attorneys of Nichole Erin Rice, the woman charged with the 2007 murder of Anita Knutson.

The filing comes two weeks from a scheduled conference in North Central District Court on Nov. 17, in which Judge Richard Hagar is expected to rule regarding advancing or dismissing the AA felony murder charge against Rice. The Ward County State’s Attorney’s response was filed along with a DNA analysis report from a Salt Lake City, Utah, company called Intermountain Forensics (IMF).

Deputy State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen made several arguments in her response, offering a differing interpretation of a precedent cited by defense attorney Philip Becher and pushing back against the notion that a falsehood related to DNA evidence was entered into the record at the preliminary hearing by former Minot Police Detective Mikali Talbott. Sorgen asserted the report from IMF had been provided to the defense several months before the preliminary hearing, despite the defense’s filings indicating their expert DNA witness, Dr. Monte Miller, had not received the report for his review of the case.

“Detective Talbott testified at the preliminary hearing to the best of her knowledge as of the date of the hearing. The defense has provided no basis for its allegations that Detective Talbott’s testimony was false, let alone knowingly or intentionally false, or made with reckless disregard for the truth,” Sorgen said. “It sets forth an accusation based upon an incomplete analysis conducted by its expert, who was missing the IMF report.”

Sorgen’s filing also dissects the results of the IMF report and the State Crime Lab reports from 2016 and 2023, the latter of which, Sorgen noted, was not available at the September 2022 preliminary hearing.

The response notes the latest 2023 State Crime Lab report excluded the defense’s alternative suspect for Knutson’s murder – a man named Devin Hall, described by Sorgen as “the defense’s prime boogeyman and scapegoat.”

The state’s response concludes by stating that even with all other factors taken into account, prosecutors believe that sufficient evidence was elicited at the preliminary hearing to establish probable cause, even with the exclusion of the DNA testimony. The final five pages of the response included 16 points of evidence elicited at the hearing in support of this argument, ranging from the alleged hostility between Rice and her then roommate to claims that Rice is an avid hunter who “knew how to handle a knife.”

“There is no basis for Defendant’s motion to dismiss as there is ample probable cause. Defendant’s motion should be denied in all regards and this matter should proceed to trial as scheduled,” Sorgen concluded.

The parties will meet at 9 a.m. on Nov. 17 at the Ward County Courthouse in Minot.