The Minnesota State Bar Association High School Mock Trial program will be celebrating its 30th year at the 2016 State Competition, which will be held in Saint Paul on March 3-4, 2016.
A dozen high school teams will compete for their chance to be State Champion and go on to compete at the National Tournament in May. Those high school teams are Apple Valley, Breck, Lakeville North, Luverne, Northfield, Nova Classical Academy, Pequot Lakes, St. Michael-Albertville, Sartell, St Peter, Watertown-Mayer, and Woodbury.
The STMA team features (pictured back row) Jacob Walters, Michael Wettschreck, Steven Carlson, Ian Graziano, Brianna Goodchild; (front) Carylnne Folkstad, Taylor Sandhoefner, Anastasia Pohl, Aubrey Rossi and Allison Birk
This year’s competition case is based on the famous 1933 kidnapping of William Hamm Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewery by gangster and well known speakeasy operator, Jack Peifer. This case brings Minnesota high school mock trial participants back to the days when Saint Paul was at the forefront for national gangster activity and mayhem and forensic scientific testing was in its infancy.
As students arrive at the Ramsey County Courthouse on Thursday, they will be greeted by the St. Paul Mounted Police Unit. The featured guest speaker at the Awards Banquet on Friday will be Mr. Paul Maccabee, whose book “John Dillinger Slept Here”, provided key historical information which this year’s fictional case is based upon. This presentation is sponsored by the Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society.