From heated cross-examinations to long hours of case work, the BSM Mock Trial team is in the midst of a successful 2025-2026 season.
Each year, mock trial argues a new court case, and this year’s involves an AI-generated video that, the plaintiff claims, was defamatory. The team must be able to fight on both the plaintiff and the defense; the side they are arguing for switches each round. “This year, it’s centered around the Edmund Fitzgerald ship. Suddenly, a life preserver goes missing, and someone gets accused of stealing it and someone else posts a video about it and then is sued for defamation,” senior captain Anya Seppala said.
The mock trial team gains new members every season, but they had even more this year with the addition of the sixth grade. “We had four or five sixth graders that started out at the beginning of the year, and it was challenging to figure out how we were going to fit them into the program. The state doesn’t allow certain grades to participate at the state level, but they can participate earlier,” head coach Mary Murray said.
Although it came with some challenges, overall, Murray feels the addition of all the new members was beneficial. “I think they inspired a lot of us who have done it for a while…they just bring that enthusiasm. It lights up varsity on those days when they don’t want to be there,” Murray said.
This season has looked a little different than most because rounds typically take place at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. However, due to the many protests involving recent ICE activity in Minneapolis, each team can pick whether or not they feel safe competing there, so many trials have become virtual. “It’s very different, and we hadn’t done a lot of the virtual rules, so there was a bit of a scramble there to do that. The next round got postponed for two weeks, and then the same thing happened when we got to it,” Murray said.
One of the most important aspects of mock trial is the community it builds. Many members have been on the team for over four years, so the team has become very close. “We’re kind of a wacky group. We like to have meals together, and sometimes we’re gone three Saturdays in a row together, so I always hope they bond and find some friendships too,” Murray said.
Seppala also enjoys the community on the team. “The team is really close, and we’re good at building each other up and helping calm each other’s nerves. So I would say my favorite part is just the team itself,” Seppala said.
In the final five weeks of its season, the mock trial team hopes to qualify for the state tournament and hopefully gain a high placement there as well. “We are done with the first three rounds, so we have round four left, and that’s this Thursday. And then after that, we’ll see whether we get to round five or not. And after round five, we’ll see if we get to state,” Seppala said.