FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Julia Szalla, Katalina Lomibao, Jonathan DeArruda, Tessa Sharpe, Olivia Thompson, Isabella Barajas, Sarah Geltz, Elizabeth Gutierrez, Jolean Escoto, Ron Geltz (coach)
BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Carrie Elliott (coach), Elizabeth Lopez, Rebecca Altshuler, Nora Ward, Katiana Sickmann, Amanda Elliott, Alyssa Villarreal, Rebecca Moore, Rebecca Schulist, Kalina Poprac.
The St. Lawrence Martyr School Mock Trial team qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time last Wednesday. They ended the competition in the top 8 out of 53 Los Angeles County teams. Team member Kalina Poprac was awarded with the title of ‘Outstanding Defense Attorney.’
This is the school’s second year sponsoring a mock trial team. When they participated last year, they had gone to trial for a murder case, but were unable to make it past the first round.
“It was really exciting,” said member Amanda Elliott. “This is the first time moving on and only the second time in the competition… We’ll keep our fingers crossed that we’ll move on more next year.”
The Mock Trial program is run by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. It is a program for middle school students and high school students that emulates a real criminal trial. The students are given a pretend criminal case with a set of facts and compete against each other like they are in a real courtroom with one team acting as the prosecution and the other as the defense.
“The lawyers have to learn how to be lawyers and deal with issues like hearsay and things like that,” said Coach and attorney Ron Geltz. “Witnesses have to be realistic, like they’re responding to questions. They also make an opening statement and a closing argument.”
The St. Lawrence Martyr team’s case not only taught the student’s how to compete against another school’s defense team, but also taught the students an added lesson.
“Our case was a hit-and-run that involved a teenager who was 18 and was accused of texting while driving,” said Geltz. “The bicyclist, who was a triathlete was hit. The issue was points of evidence and the whole issue was identity…Who was driving the car when the bicyclist was hit?”
The person driving the car was accused, but evidence surfaced that perhaps the passenger was really to blame.
The local team began practicing for the competition at the beginning of the school year. The coaches had them try out for positions and were assigned to play different roles in the case. The coaches helped them understand case law and helped them formulate questions for the attorneys to ask the witnesses during the competition when they are judged by a real judge.
“They are very, very nice to the kids,” said Carrie Elliott, the co-coach and a former attorney, about the volunteer judges. “They helped make the kids feel comfortable.”
The students were required to dress in full-suits and follow actual courtroom rules.
“We carry in all our notes in a real court room and everybody takes you really seriously, so you feel like a real lawyer in a real court,” said Amanda Elliott. “It’s intimidating but really fun.” ER
