After months full of studying case files, writing questions, and brushing up on the multiple reasons to call an objection, the eleven members of MHSN’s Mock Trial team took their knowledge to the Monmouth Vicinage in Freehold, NJ. The team was able to argue, object, and redirect their way to the second round of the competition which ordinary started off with eighteen teams from the Monmouth county area which started on Monday, January 6th.
Sitting outside the courtrooms, the team studied, rehearsed, and analyzed their questions and testimonies looking for any flaw to cover. Their image glistened in the immaculately clean laminate floors as they stood under the signs of notable names in Monmouth County justice such as Lawson, Bauman, and Perri. They were engulfed in a sea of black suits, surrounded by local schools studying their cases and waiting to enter their courtrooms.
In their round two match up, the defense team of Middletown North went toe-to-toe with the prosecution team of Allentown. After a trial lasting over an hour and a half, North lost in a close decision. Defense lawyers Nick Lund, junior, and Kyle Malick, freshman, defended the defendant Sid Sawyer, played by sophomore Sydney O’Brian, who was accused of killing her own sister by driving a 1987 Buick Regal Grand National. Lund and Malick proclaimed Sawyer’s innocence calling upon Dr. Harley Vang, a civil engineer who investigated the crash scene, played by Jill Haliskoe, sophomore, and Sawyer’s cousin Logan, played by sophomore Carmen Ploe, and also relying on the testimony of Sid Sawyer herself. Lund and Malik argued that there was responsible doubt in the case heard by Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen. “seeing the young hopeful lawyers is such a nice thing,” Judge Kilgallen said before reading the verdict, “it’s such a nice life.” Members of the Wall Township Mock Trial team made up the jury in the case.
In the first round, North’s defense team was paired up with Long Branch High School’s prosecution team and North’s prosecution was pitted against Allentown’s High School’s defense team during the first two days of the tournament. North’s victory over Long Branch secured their spot in the second round of the contest. “[I was] glad that [the case] worked out the way that it did,” Malick said. “After the closing [argument] I felt good,” added Lund. North defeated Long Branch with a score of 133-117. Red Bank Catholic served as jurors in the case.
In the second day of the trial, North’s prosecution lawyers Megan Farrell, junior, and Sam Ballard*, junior, took on Allentown’s defense team in a case that took many twists and turns. The witness block for the prosecution included the police officer who arrived at the scene of the crash, Sergeant Jean Durand, played by junior Matt Golembieski, medical examiner Dr. Dana Lang, played by sophomore Allie Kirk, and friend of Sid Sawyer and convicted felon Sam Axelrod, played by sophomore Troy Woodginski. During cross examination, Farrell tripped up Allentown’s expert witness, Dr. Vang, over a number error in his testimony to which he then told the court that he was diagnosed with Dyslexia, a detail not at all mentioned in the trial packet but applicable since it was said in open court. Farrell pursued the issue to discredit the witness’s testimony in her closing statements. Even with the slip-up, the lawyers viewing the case gave Allentown the victory while admitting that the case “leans” towards the defense. Students from Howell High School served as the jury.
The Mock Trial team walked out of courtroom 218 with their heads held high proud of what they were able to accomplish. “We didn’t lose, we gained so much,” said senior Chance Woodginski. “I want to go back to the witness stand so bad,” said Kirk.
Club advisors Mrs. Jane Pearson and Mrs. Beth Ann D’Alessandro were also impressed with the performance that the team put in. “Everybody was very good,” said D’Alessandro.
The event was sponsored by the New Jersey Bar Association.
*The lawyer for the prosecution, Sam Ballard, is the brother to the author of this article
