Cloquet mock trial team reaches section finals

It's been seven years since the Cloquet High School Mock Trial team made it to the state tournament. The 2018-2019 season is looking like a promising opportunity to return. The Lumberjacks are 3-0 at trial, and if they keep rolling through the fourth trial, they will find themselves deservingly back at state.

Since its start 35 years ago, only two coaches have led the Lumberjacks. Cloquet social studies teacher Bret Baker has coached the team since he took over from retired social studies teacher Doug Johnson 17 years ago.

"Mr. Johnson deserves much of the credit for building the program from scratch," Baker said, noting that under Johnson, Cloquet competed in the national tournament, earning a second-place trophy in 1984.

The Mock Trial program is an extracurricular offering at CHS. Coach Baker laments "Esko, Proctor, Harbor City, Two Harbors, all have had solid teams during my tenure, but all have left the program, presumably over budget strains." Baker said he appreciates that Cloquet's administration continues to support the program and the students it serves.

"I think Mock Trial is a tremendous opportunity for students to not only immerse themselves in the criminal and civil trial process, but to stretch their public speaking abilities, critical and creative thinking skills, and to practice analytical reasoning," he said.

Each year the new trial materials become available in mid-October. The team has until early January to prepare to argue for both sides of the trial. The trials take place in courtrooms around the region, against other Minnesota teams in front of real judges or attorneys who volunteer their time. The preparation for trial and the subsequent adjustments between trials keep the team busy.

"The courthouses of Pine, Kannabec, St. Louis, Aitkin, Crow Wing, and Stearns Counties are all typical destinations any given year," Baker said. "I'm always humbled at how much work the students put into their preparation: opening statements, closings arguments, directs, crosses, studying and preparing for objections; and considering the legal underpinnings of each case, that takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication."

The 2018-2019 case is a civil case. The case centers around the story of Hayden Brooks, a county commissioner, and his beef with the local newspaper, the Cahill Monitor. The trial materials includes the case overview:

"This case is set in Cahill, a small town in St. Louis County, Minn. On Sept. 22, 2017 the Cahill Monitor, the town's paper, printed an article that accused retired county commissioner Hayden Brooks of taking a bribe in connection with the routing of a pipeline in exchange for voting in favor of the proposal to move the placement of a planned pipeline - a proposal supported by Morgan Ramsey, a prominent local businessperson. The article alleged that Commissioner Brooks agreed to this bribe but was unable to act on it because the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners' vote was postponed until after Brooks' retirement due to a blizzard at the end of December 2016. According to the article, Commissioner Brooks kept the money anyway. As a result of the article, Brooks has lost a number of lucrative speaking engagements and other business opportunities. In addition, his reputation within the Cahill community has been damaged. As a result, Brooks has filed suit against the Cahill Monitor for defamation of character, alleging that the story was completely false."

In Cloquet's first trial, they argued in defense of the Cahill Monitor against the team from Chisholm. A week later the team shifted gears and represented Commissioner Brooks against St. Cloud Cathedral. The third trial was held at Pine City against Apollo. As Defense in rounds one and three, Cloquet won with scores of 226-201 and 218-206. As the Plaintiff, in trial two, they won 216-197.

Cloquet is located in Region 1. Ranging from northern Minnesota to just north of the cities, the region consists of eight teams. The competition is tough. With eight teams and only one spot available at state, every point counts. Each team competes in three rounds; the top two compete in a fourth round to determine who moves on. As the team travels the region competing at different courthouses and against other teams, they are ranked by seed.

As No. 1 in the region, the CHS 2018-19 Mock Trial team will be competing against the No. 2 seed - Sartell - to determine who makes it onto state. This section finals trial is Friday, Feb. 15 at the Stearns County Courthouse in St. Cloud. The winner advances to the state tournament held in Duluth, to be hosted at the St. Louis County Courthouse.

In the end, the endless hours and countless headaches have led Cloquet's team to a successful season. The "freshman four" team of Hannah Baker, Johnathan Muhvich, Peter Tomhave, and Kelly Lorenz - all seniors, having participated since ninth grade - along with fellow seniors Allie Wojtysiak, Ryan Badger and Payten Schneberger will be leaving the 10-person team with a fresh start. Maddie Dostal, Joshua South and A.J. Maijala will all return next season.

Coach Baker plans to hand over the program during the 2019-2020 competition.

"Cloquet will have its third advisor in year 36 when social studies educator Mrs. Corrine Gornick-Heehn takes the reins," Baker said. "I'm confident I'm leaving the students in good hands and, hopefully, she will be leading the program to its 50th year in Cloquet."