The Mock Trial team recently competed in the 2014-2015 season court case on Feb 28. The team placed fifth overall, just falling short of entering the state round.

“This has been our best year in recent memory,” Amanda Doane, Mock Trial sponsor, said. “A lot of judges said we did really well. They said we made it hard for them to find anything wrong.”

For the past few years, the team has only been participating in the novice division, with this year being the first varsity competition for them in a while.

“To get fifth and know you’re up there is a good feeling,” Troy Curfman, junior, said.

Curfman has been participating on the team for two years. During this last competition, he won the award for best cross and direct examination. According to Doane, this basically means he won the award for best attorney.

“I like it because I get to argue with people,” Curfman said. Curfman also enjoys the experience he gains from being on the team as he aspires to be a lawyer in the future.

The team received its court case last December and spent the next couple of months preparing their case.  The cases alternate each year between civil and criminal cases, with this year’s being a civil case.

“This case was a product liability case. Someone lost their hearing and claimed it was from a defective earphone,” Doane said.

Mock Trial cases are played out like a real court case with the team having to prepare for both the plaintiff and defense. They are then split up with three members being lawyers and three more being witnesses.

The teams begin the trial by running through their pretrial motions and opening statements. Each team then gives both sides of the case, all the while examining witnesses and evidence. A panel of actual judges and law professionals then judges each team’s performance.

According to Doane, Mock Trial allows students to practice real world speaking and performing skills in a more authentic way than other performing activities like forensics or drama.

To Doane, the best thing about Mock Trial is “to see them work so hard and come up with ideas I never would have thought of.”

Though the competition for this year has come and gone, the team will compete again next year. Any students interested in joining the Mock Trial team can contact Doane for information.