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| Members of the YSHS Mock Trial team, front row,
from left: Charlie Cromer, Rose Byrnes, Jon Bullock, Sarah Wolfe and
Laura Garcia; middle row: Carey Dixon, Glenn Reed, James Hyde and
Lydia Gerthoffer; back row: Scott Keyes, Martin Borchers, Alex Melecki,
Tina Chen and Martin Bakari. Not pictured: Coopeer Fleishman, Stephanie
Goode, Lila Jensen, Aaron Zagory, Aaron Zaremsky and advisor Joyce
McCurdy. |
Students go to court in Mock Trial
At the Franklin County Courthouse in Columbus
on Friday, March 12, things were abuzz as hundreds of people bustled here
and there in the large building. Attorneys strode through the halls and
long lines of men and women passed through metal detectors, all in the
pursuit of justice through the American court system.
In a courtroom on the 11th floor, four attorneys
presented their arguments in a case centered on the Fifth Amendment rights
of a young man who had been arrested at a political rally and whether those
rights been violated. The case was complicated, involving what the presiding
judge described as “questions the courts have been struggling with
for 400 years.”
Looking dignified in their dark suits, the attorneys
presented their cases clearly and forcefully, giving passionate opening
arguments, putting witnesses through examinations and cross-examination,
popping up from their seats to object to each other’s line of questioning
and finally wrapping up their case with a concluding statement. It was an
impressive performance by any standard but especially since all involved
were, in fact, high school students.
The courtroom scene served as the state quarterfinals
of Ohio Mock Trial, and two of the four attorneys involved, along with two
of the four witnesses, were Yellow Springs High School students. The Yellow
Springs attorneys — YSHS seniors Rose Byrnes and Alex Melecki —
and the witnesses — seniors James Hyde and Lydia Gerthoeffer —
comprised the defense team. The night before, attorneys Aaron Zagory, a
senior, and junior Scott Keyes acted as prosecutors, using as witnesses
juniors Glenn Reed and Charlie Cromer.
That trial turned out to be the group’s last
this year, as Yellow Springs lost the case due to procedural errors that
took place the night before. But the event concluded a strong showing for
this year’s Yellow Springs High School Mock Trial team, which in February
placed 3rd out of 26 teams in the district competition. And in Columbus,
Alex Melecki was honored by the Mock Trial judges as best attorney of the
four participating in his trial.
Afterwards, team advisor and YSHS teacher Joyce
McCurdy had only praise for the young people.
“They’re intense. They’re animated.
They’re focused,” said McCurdy. “Whatever they do, they
do it to the nth degree. They spent an immense amount of time on this.”
The experience of Mock Trial was well worth their
time, several students said.
“It’s captivating,” said Scott
Keyes, who plans to pursue a career in law and politics. “It definitely
gave me firsthand experience. You can read about the law and see the courtroom
stuff on TV but there are so many intricacies, things you can’t know
until you do it yourself.”
Describing the Mock Trial process as “high-tension,”
Rose Byrnes said she most enjoyed the group’s camaraderie. “You
get to hang out with these folks. It’s fun to be with them,”
she said.
The Mock Trial season began at the end of October,
McCurdy said, when the event’s sponsors, the Ohio Bar Association
and the American Civil Liberties Union, held a conference at which they
released the case that all teams used. This year’s case was the state
of Ohio v. Trilby Van Aker, and involved whether or not police coerced a
confession from Van Aker, who admitted to planting a bomb at a political
rally.
After she attended the two-day conference, McCurdy
assembled her teams, which consisted of several students from last year’s
team along with several newcomers, including some previously involved in
high school theater and the Quick Recall team.
The YSHS Mock Trial A Team, or Team Truck, included
Zagory, Keyes, Cromer, Reed, Byrnes, Melecki, Gerthoffer and Hyde, with
senior Jon Bullock as bailiff and junior Martin Bakari, cameraman. The B
Team, or Blue Team, consisted of lawyers Carey Dixon, Laura Garcia and Tina
Chen, all sophomores, and Martin Borchers, a junior, witnesses Lila Jensen
and Cooper Fleishman, both juniors, and sophomores Aaron Zaremsky and Stephanie
Goode, and bailiff Sarah Wolfe.
In Yellow Springs, the Mock Trial team practiced
for two hours each Sunday, meeting at St. Paul Catholic Church after church
let out, since their legal advisor, Jon Paul Rion, attends that church and
was available at that time. Team members spent considerable effort outside
of the practices as well, McCurdy said, meeting in twos and threes to go
over their parts.
The Mock Trial experience is part acting, part improvisation
and a large dose of critical thinking, offering the young people many opportunities
to develop their writing skills as well, said McCurdy, who added that the
students studied 70 pages of relevant court cases to use in their briefs.
While the attorneys’ opening arguments were prepared prior to the
trial, they had only two minutes during the trial to write closing arguments,
which were based on the trial’s events.
“They learn confidence from speaking and thinking
on their feet,” McCurdy said.
The Tuesday evening before the state quarterfinals,
team members spent five hours at Rion’s downtown Dayton office, polishing
their performances. Pronounced in fine shape by Rion, the group left the
office ready to make a good show in the quarterfinals, only to find an unexpected
adventure lay in wait. On the way down from Rion’s office, the group’s
elevator got stuck, and the young people spent an hour waiting in the elevator
before it was fixed.
The Mock Trial group’s cohesion served it
well through the difficulty, said Scott Keyes.
“I can’t think of another group I’d
rather be stuck in an elevator with,” he said.
—Diane Chiddister
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