CHARLES CRANE/MDN Daniel Breijo listens to testimony from potential witnesses during an evidentiary hearing at the Ward County Courthouse on Thursday, March 26.

State prosecutors and the man charged in the 2023 Christmas Eve murder of Nicholas Van Pelt made oral arguments over several unresolved evidentiary motions in North Central District Court on Thursday, March 26.

Special Ward County prosecutor Amanda Engelstad informed Judge Daniel El-Dweek at the outset of the hearing that one of the pending motions from the state had been withdrawn, as its outcome could be made redundant by El-Dweek’s ruling on a separate motion from Daniel Breijo’s attorney Jesse Walstad seeking to suppress a myriad of evidence on the grounds their collection violated his client’s constitutional rights.

Engelstad called several witnesses to support the state’s arguments that the actions and decisions of responding police officers to the scene of the shooting on Dec. 24, 2023, and by crime scene investigators in the aftermath were lawful due to exigent circumstances.

The first witness was Minot Police Officer Kolby Bach, who was one of the first officers to make entry to Van Pelt’s residence after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots. Bach testified that after locating Van Pelt and the surviving victim, he observed Breijo sitting on the floor of a bathroom in the apartment, with a handgun resting on the ground just a foot away from him.

According to court documents, Bach had testified in a deposition that he picked up the firearm with his bare hand and placed it between his belt and his waistband until he turned it in to Evidence at the Minot Police Station. Bach said he provided a DNA sample to exclude him from any results.

“When I made entry to the apartment and began clearing, I was not wearing gloves. When the other officer encountered the suspect, immediately needed my assistance bringing him into custody, I did not have time to put on gloves. I observed the weapon sitting next to the defendant, because of the immediate risk that presented, I did not have time to put on gloves before securing the firearm,” Bach said.

Extensive testimony was also provided by Minot Police Sgt. Memorie Andrade, who related her perspective from responding to the initial scene to the conclusion of the crime scene investigation later that morning on Dec. 25, 2023. While Andrade’s testimony echoed Bach’s responses that their entry to the apartment and detainment of Breijo was necessary to ensure the safety of responding officers and the surviving victim, she did concede one of Walstad’s key contentions that investigators executed a daytime warrant at night.

Andrade testified that while there was less urgency once Breijo was detained and the scene was secured, the crime scene response team still wanted to move quickly to process the scene to avoid tying up other officers longer than necessary. The situation was further complicated, according to Andrade, after “significant amounts of marijuana” was allegedly found in the apartment, necessitating a second more expansive search warrant, which she admitted also didn’t permit a nighttime execution.

El-Dweek ordered a break after Andrade completed her testimony, and it is unknown at press time whether the arguments were taken under advisement or ruled on.