New Glarus High School Mock Trial Team Compete in its 8th Regional Tournament
The New Glarus High School Mock Trial team will compete on Saturday, February 11, 2012 in its eighth tournament. The students are responsible for mastering a manual with over 80 pages of rules and procedures, and 25 pages of witness statements, exhibits and legal standards before they compete against teams from across southern Wisconsin. They assume roles as either lawyers presenting the case and making arguments, or as witnesses who must make a convincing presentation of their facts. The witnesses are then cross examined by student attorneys from other teams before the panel of three judges decides on points which side has “won” that particular trial.
This year’s case involves a claim for adverse possession of property brought by sisters Terry (played by Samantha Stecha) and Robbie McDougal (played by Kaitlin Jennrich) to take away land owned by sisters Charlie (played by Jamie Statz) and Shannon O’Neill (played by Alayna Truttman). According to the materials, the McDougals, who have owned the 40 acre parcel adjacent to the O’Neills since 1965 have brazenly expanded their fishing pond onto the O’Neills’ land and even rented out the land to tourists like Billie Harper (played by Jessica Pratt) for hunting. After the O’Neills’ elderly parents died, the O’Neills inherited their land from their parents in 2008. Charlie, a Viet Nam vet, grows organic vegetables in the middle of the portion that the McDougals are seeking to take away. The O’Neils call as a further witness on their behalves Logan Jackson (played by Mackenzie Tway), a local crop duster and recreational pilot who has viewed the land from above for years, and even fished the McDougals’ intruding pond.
The plaintiff’s lawyer “dream team” has Zach Clark, Natalie Wright and Lauren Dearth. The impenetrable legal defense team has Lance Emmerton, Savannah Bettin and Lauren Dearth on their side.
The students have been meeting weekly since October to analyze the case, prepare their roles and work out their arguments. They will compete against nine other teams from Belleville, Oregon, Kettle Moraine, Whitewater and other southern Wisconsin high schools at a full day tournament held in the Rock County Courthouse in Janesville, on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Presentations will begin roughly at 8 am, 10 am, 1 pm and 3 pm.
Parents and spectators are welcome to attend any or all of the tournament trials. The address is the Rock County Courthouse, 51 South Main Street, Janesville. For further information, contact either the teacher coach, Rebecca Kuhl, or the attorney coaches Faun Phillipson or Dan Gartzke.
The Mock Trial program is prepared and financially underwritten by the State Bar of Wisconsin. The New Glarus Mock Trial team is further financially supported by a generous cash donation from the Green County Bar Association.
You can view the full mock trial materials at the following link:
http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Law_related_education&CONTENTFILEID=21753&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
