Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in Hibbing

The Minnesota Supreme Court is traveling to Hibbing this week to hear oral arguments in a case before an audience made up of northern Minnesota students.

The court on Wednesday will hear a case from Hennepin County at Hibbing High School. Up to 1,800 students from eight high schools and Hibbing Community College will attend. Afterward, they will get a chance to participate in a question-and-answer session with the justices.

It's the 30th school visit for the court, which has heard real cases at schools throughout the state since 1995. The court makes the trips twice a year, with a fall trip to greater Minnesota and a spring trip in or around the Twin Cities, said courts spokeswoman Lissa Finne.

Finne said the justices and court staff are looking forward to hearing arguments in the Hibbing school's auditorium. "It's a great venue," she said of the high school, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Supreme Court justices will also participate in a community dinner in Hibbing on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's case is between the state and Adophus Brown, who was convicted of second-degree murder and possession of a handgun without a permit in Hennepin County.

The state Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, but Brown wants the Supreme Court to consider granting him a new trial. Brown has said evidence at trial failed to prove he shot with intent to kill, and he said a statement made during a discussion of a possible plea agreement was improperly used at trial.

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