Social Studies Teacher Laurie Raymond leads the ten members of the Buffalo High School Varsity Mock Trial team out of the courtroom. It is January 14, 2010, and they have just beaten Princeton’s Mock Trial team, winning the Conference Tournament.
“Mrs. Raymond is so dedicated to our team,” reveals Junior Sam Kemp, a first year lawyer on the Varsity Defense. “She provides a lot of insight to help us with our material.”
Mock trial is quite literally, a mock trial. Students are lawyers or witnesses for prosecution or defense. Witnesses have direct examinations by the lawyer who represents them, and are crossed by lawyers from the other side. One team has members on both defense and prosecution, who compete against teams opposite them. So, the Buffalo defense goes against another town’s prosecution and vise versa. There are bailiffs who swear in the witnesses, and team members who keep time. The lawyers deliver openings and closings as well. The whole competition is done in front of one to three judges, usually they are actual lawyers, sometimes even judges.
Each year there is a new case that lasts throughout the whole year. Members get a large packet that has information about the case like the evidence, and all the witnesses’ testimonies. Students witnesses have to memorize all the information about the person they are representing, and lawyers have to memorize questions to ask the witnesses and objections.
“I joined mock trial because I want to be a lawyer later in life,” explains Kemp. “It also sounded like a lot of fun.”
The case this year involves a young student athlete who died of a steroid overdose. The plaintiff side of the case is affirming that the school and coach are at fault for his death because they didn’t know he was using, or if they knew, they didn’t stop him. The defense side is saying that it was his own decision to use, and if anyone should have noticed, it should have been his mother.
Mock trial has practice three to four days a week from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. Their next tournament is January 16th, 2010 in Apple Valley at 7:30 a.m. The kids act serious in the courtroom but love to joke around and have a good time.
“Last year I was on the J.V. team,” says Junior Kat Randall, who is a defense witness on the Varsity team. “And we got to watch the Varsity compete for the first time and we were all really excited. Graham Wyatt was giving his closing, and he paused for dramatic effect, and someone on my team farted really loudly. It was hilarious, everyone was trying so hard not to laugh! For the rest of the year we called her The Big Rip.”
