The New Glarus High School Mock Trial Team will compete in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday, February 8, 2020, in its 17th mock trial tournament. The students are responsible for mastering a manual with over 90 pages of rules and procedures, and 61 pages of witness statements, exhibits and legal standards before they compete against teams from across southern Wisconsin. They assume roles as either lawyers presenting the case and making arguments, or as witnesses who must make a convincing presentation of their facts. The witnesses are then cross examined by student attorneys from other teams before the panel of three judges decides on points which side has "won" that particular trial.

This year's civil case arises from the death by drowning of a teenager, Jonah Stark, in a local country club pool. Jonah's parent, Kingsley Targareyn, is suing the country club alleging that Jonah committed suicide because another student (Kris Marks), who was also a pool employee, mercilessly tormented and bullied Jonah so that Jonah had no choice but to drown himself in the pool. Targareyn is claiming the country club should have better supervised and trained its employees, and restricted access to the pool. Alternatively, Targareyn alleges the pool had a defective surface such that Jonah slipped and fell.

Please note: The fact situation is entirely fictional and is not based on any actual events.

Our plaintiff lawyer team is Ben Wolf, Maddie Thoemke and Anderson Justman. Defense lawyers are Ben Copeland, Heather Niceschwander and Julian Lutz.

Plaintiff witnesses are: Kinglsey Targaryen, played by Merrick Fong. Parent of Jonah. Andy Lannister, played by Lily Lounsbury, Jonah's friend. Elliot Funke-Keyworth, played by Dylan Fritz and Sam Copeland. Jonah's mental health counselor.

Defendant's witnesses are: Kris Marks, played by Helen Marty and Lola Endicott¸ Jonah's tormentor and pool concessions worker. Parker Posie, played by Ella Shaw and Bronwyn Mayhew. Another pool lifeguard. Sam Swimplebun, played by Aden Gobeli. Pool Manager.

The tournament will start at 8:00 a.m., and run all day on Saturday, February 8, at the Dane County Courthouse, 215 South Hamilton Street, Madison, and we plan to present four versions of the trial-hopefully two as plaintiff and two as defendant. Trials are scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. All guests are welcome.

Or, come to see our exhibition performance in the High School Library starting at 4:30 p.m., on Wednesday, January 29.

The New Glarus Mock Trial team is coached by New Glarus Middle School teacher Lexa Speth, and attorneys Faun Phillipson and Dan Gartzke. We are further supported by generous financial donations from the Green County Bar Association, the Bank of New Glarus and Sugar River Bank Branches and RPM Motors Inc., and in-kind donations from Boardman & Clark as well as the volunteer services of local judge Duane Jorgenson as well as attorney Daniel Bestul who donated a Sunday afternoon to hear our practice rounds.

The State Bar of Wisconsin has been running the Mock Trial program for over 30 years. Monroe's own Rodney Kittlesen was one of the original founders of the program. In that time, many thousands of Wisconsin high school students have benefited from the rigors of preparing and trying realistic cases. It is part of the Bar's public education program.

We'll see you in court!