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Each year since 2015 Luverne High School has competed at the state Mock Trial tournament by achieving the best regional record.
This week, as the 2020 season gets underway, 16 Luverne students are aiming for a sixth-straight Region 4 title.
Third-year adviser Jason Berghorst is confident the students can return to the state tournament.
“The students pretty much coach each other during practice and during the trial,” Berghorst said. “That allows them to take ownership and pride in the whole process from start to finish, which I believe has led to the success of this team over the years.”
Leading this year’s team are four seniors: Alexa Chesley, Gunnar Oldre, Sophia Lanoue and Jordan Winter.
Chesley and Oldre are the longest-serving team members. They joined as eighth-graders and participated as alternates at the 2015 state tournament.
This year they return as defense and prosecution attorneys respectively.
Both are nervous as the two-month season begins.
“There is a streak to keep up,” Oldre said. “It’s not like a sport that you’ve planned out because the team has been the same every time — we have a brand new case to plan every year.”
Mock Trial is a law-related education program organized by the Minnesota Bar Association. The program is meant to introduce students to the American legal system through participation in a mock trial consisting of 12 student members.
Team members are broken into attorney-witness prosecution and defense teams.
For Luverne the prosecution attorneys are Oldre, juniors Kaitlyn Anderson and Lauren Ver Steeg.
Prosecution witnesses are juniors Solveig Tofteland and Xavier Carbonneau, and sophomore Chance Tunnissen.
Chesley and Lanoue, in her fourth year, head the defense attorney team along with junior John Miller.
Defense witnesses are Winter, junior Seno Chanthalangsy and sophomore Luke Thorson.
Lawyer alternates are sophomore Griffen Jarchow and freshman Parker Carbonneau. Witness alternates are freshmen Ella Lanoue and Ross Bergman.
This year’s case focuses on the opioid epidemic and the state’s third-degree murder statute, which has been used to prosecute those who unlawfully provide drugs to others when death results from the use of the drug.
Specifically, the mock trial centers on the state of Minnesota bringing charges against Sam Soto, who hosted a party in which Brandon Weber died of a drug overdose.
Winter portrays addiction medicine physician Morgan Holloway, a witness for the defense. This is his third year on the team.
All witnesses must follow the information provided in the depositions in the case.
Judges presiding over the mock trial give each team points to determine a winner.
Students are careful not to add information outside the depositions to their mock trial performances, information the opposing side may use in their arguments and earn more points.
“It’s really important that we know that,” Winter said. “It’s all about presentation, so if I am presenting as an addiction medicine physician, I need to look the part and speak the part.”
This year the team is receiving assistance in the correct pronunciation of the drug names included in the case from Chesley’s mom, Judy, a physician.
“My mom knows all about this stuff but we can’t ask her to explain it all so we can use it,” Chesley said. “We have to use only the materials provided in the case. We can’t bring out any other explanations.”
Helping students object to improper procedures is returning attorney coach Jeff Haubrich. Legal advice is also being provided by Alex Miller, a team parent and former attorney coach.
Team leaders have sights on returning to the state tournament.
“We know we can definitely achieve it as long as we stay focused and keep up the same methods we have in the past four years,” Oldre said.
Other high schools competing in Region 4 are Hills-Beaver Creek, Springfield, and two teams from Lakeview.
LHS Mock Trial schedule is:
•Defense versus Springfield, today, Jan. 9.
•Prosecution versus Lakeview, Jan. 17.
•Defense versus Hills-Beaver Creek, Jan. 24.
•Prosecution versus Springfield, Feb. 7.
The top two teams with the best records compete against each other the week of Feb. 10.
The winner moves on to the state competition March 5-6 in St. Paul.