Students Argue the Case in State Mock Trial Competition
For the third year in a row, the AIS mock trial team went downtown to compete in the mock trial regionals. The team is divided in two parts: the plaintiff and the defense. Each side goes up against two different schools—unless they make it to the championship round, in which case, they would compete with a third team—and the winner of the championship round goes to the state competition. The teams had been working on the case for several months: while the case had only been published in December, the AIS team had been having meetings since the fall, analyzing and memorizing the case, as well as running "mock" mock trials and scrimmages.
This year, the case was a civil case: G.G. LaQuinta was suing Dr. Jed Hill for negligence. According to the plaintiff, Dr. Hill had fallen asleep at the wheel, causing a car crash that resulted in the death of Paris LaQuinta and her friend Nicole Commodore's descent into a coma. The defendant, however, argued that Dr. Hill had not fallen asleep and that, in fact, Paris LaQuinta was driving while drunk.
On the defendant's team were:
- Siri Belton, Vincent Leibbrandt and Emily Robey-Phillips as attorneys.
- Sabrina Neuman as Dr. Jed Hill, the defendant
- Erons Ohienmhen as Cael "Crash" Craddock, an expert in accident reconstruction
- India Duranthon as Colquitt Brooks, a bartender.
For the prosecution were:
- Quitterie Gounot, Arian Burns, and Rachel Bucey as attorneys
- Anna Wilner as G.G. LaQuinta
- Julius Gebhard-Koenigstein as Dr. Gerald Gowitt
- Caroline Geiger as Rook E. Greenwood, the police officer assigned to the case.
All of the attorneys had prepared both a direct and cross examination for their witnesses (one from the defendant's team and one from the plaintiff's) and the witnesses had memorized their statements. One attorney from each team also had an opening statement prepared, while one from each team had a closing statement.
The team did well and had lots of fun, thanks in large part to our lawyer coaches Ms. Deb Sudbury, Ms. Theresia Moser, Mr. Doug Towns, Ms. Karen Geiger, and Mr. Chris Moormon, and our teacher coach, Ms. Jennifer Weyburn. Four of the AIS team members, in fact, won awards: Quitterie Gounot and Vincent Leibbrandt won Outstanding Attorney awards while India Duranthon and Julius Gebhard-Koenigstein won Outstanding Witness awards. The team is improving with each year, and soon we will make it to the state competition!