Alexander wins district mock trial competition

by Kim Smith
Staff Writer

A chorus of objections was heard from area high school students Friday.

Students from Athens, Alexander, Federal-Hocking, Nelsonville-York and Trimble school districts took to the courtroom for the District Mock Trial Competition. The team from Alexander High School won this year's event.

"You have to know your case really well," said Meg Hamill, a Trimble High School freshman. "I think it was a good experience."

Students were given specific roles, acting as either witnesses or attorneys on a hypothetical case.

"I want to be a lawyer, and I think this helped me find out if I like law or not," Hamill said.

The competition this year focused on a case in which students were stopped at a sobriety checkpoint. One of the student’s backpacks is searched and marijuana is found.

The case addresses issues of profiling, traffic stops, and legal search and seizure, said Ben Selander, an Athens High School senior.

"I think this is relative to students today," said Sarah Shoup, an Athens High School freshman.

Some students found that learning their part was not very difficult, Selander said.

"The key is becoming the witness," he said. "It’s not so much an actor as knowing the case."

More than 340 high school teams competed at 25 district mock trial sites across the state. The top 40 teams will advance to the State Finals on March 8-10 in Columbus.

"It’s really interesting how all this works, and how extremely unfair how someone’s innocence is based on how well the lawyer knows his stuff and not the facts," Shoup said.