By MARK VAGELAKOS
The Mock Trial team is preparing to go to the state level competition to compete against 20 other schools, starting Thursday, March 8 and continuing to Saturday, March 10.
Every year, Mock Trial teams across the country are given one case to study and compete by playing the roles of attorney and witness.
Real judges and lawyers preside over the trials and the teams are judged for their understanding of the law and the smoothness and professionalism in which they handle the procedure of the court.
“I think the kids have each been doing really well. We’ve placed them where their strengths are. Our attorneys are great at what they do, our witnesses are great at what they do and each kid has come through and is able to shine in their individual roles. They’re doing a fantastic job,” sponsor Gina Carlisle said.
In order to compete, the team had to prepare both sides of the case that involved a girl being bullied by an older boy online who was charged with cyber bullying and aggravated assault. The team may be told to prosecute the case during one competition then defend it in the next.
“At some point we are like ‘why did they give us this case.’ Sometimes at the beginning it seems like it is such a prosecution case [ and we think] ‘how are we supposed to defend this guy,’ but by the end of the year, we feel like there are facts for both sides,” Mock Trial president Emily Blaydes said.
The competition gives students real life experience in all areas of court procedure from preparing a case to directing witnesses and influencing student juries. To do this, they had to practice establishing lines of questioning and theories of defense.
“I do plan on going into law. I think it helps me in so many ways. It helps me with public speaking, it gets me comfortable talking to powerful lawyers and judges and it gives me the basics on law so law school should be a bit easier since I’m learning the basics in a fun setting instead of a stressful classroom setting,” Blaydes said.
Beating three local teams, the group is now preparing to face schools from across the state in a tournament like setting. If they are successful, they will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the national competition.
“Fortunately we’ve had the same case for five months so we’ve been able to go through everything and pick it apart. Now, it’s just about bringing it together so we can put on a good trial for the competition,” Carlisle said.