Iowa City High School’s mock trial team wins 2nd in U.S.

IOWA CITY — Iowa City High School students placed second in the National High School Mock Trial Championship this year, and won the state high school competition in Iowa for the first time in the team’s history.

Shoshie Hemley, 18, a senior at City High, said it is the biggest achievement of her high school career.

“We joke that mock trial is where theater kids who are competitive go to release their competitive spirit,” Hemley said. “Mock trial is a performance, and we prepare for it that way by reading lines and rehearsing.”

It’s also improvisation, and for students who are witnesses, it’s creating a character, Hemley said.

“You think on your feet, argue on your feet, and when you win it’s all the more satisfying,” she said.

Hemley is a closing attorney for the mock trial team. She gives the prosecution’s closing speech. The defense gives rebuttals, and then Hemley has about 30 seconds to write her final closing arguments.

She’s an attorney because — as a coach once described her — she plays “a little more spicy,” she said.

At the state tournament, Hemley won All-State Attorney, and her team members Tobey Epstein and Madelyn Hellwig won All-State Witness.

Only 13 attorneys out of more than 240, and 15 witnesses out of more than 480, were honored as all-state winners, said Lisa Williams, mock trial coach and Iowa City school board member.

Other team members include Ananya Albrecht-Buehler, Julianne Berry-Stoelzle, Francesca Brown, Caleigh Stanier, Johanna Kopelman, Harper Denniston and Katherine Geerdes.

In mock trial, students receive case notes before competing and write direct examinations for witnesses, collaborate on cross examinations, write opening and closing arguments, and figure out their case theory.

Both competitions were virtual this year because of the pandemic.

The state case was a civil case.

At an outdoor concert in Des Moines, a concertgoer was killed by a fallen tree after it was struck by lightning.

The spouse of the deceased was suing the band for not canceling the show.

“That was a hard case to argue because it was civil,” Hemley said. “There was a contract, and it was about arguing who has the responsibility in the contract.”

The case at the national competition was a criminal case.

A tug boat operator was boating on the Ohio River when he hit a fishing boat, which capsized. One person was killed. The state was prosecuting the tug boat operator for reckless homicide and fleeing the scene.

It’s a coin toss that decides which team is prosecution and which team is defense.

City High’s mock trial team started less than 10 years ago.

“We have improved by leaps and bounds,” Hemley said. “It just shows how dedicated our coaches are because they’ve built this program from the ground up in less than a decade.

Hemley has plans to go to Williams College in Massachusetts this fall, where she will study political science.

Williams said mock trial isn’t just for students who want to be attorneys. It teaches a lot of practical lessons like public speaking.

Williams said that the each person on the team did “the very best I’ve ever seen them do” at nationals.

“They put it all on the line, and it was a perfect round of mock trial,” Williams said.

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