The GRC varsity Mock Trial Team won the region championship and will compete for the state title this weekend at the Lexington Courthouse.
The varsity team worked very hard to achieve this title. There are four trials in the competition, and the team took first in each one.
The varsity team’s case is based on ageism, and is a civil case. This means it deals with more of a dispute than a crime, like in criminal cases.
Each trial is three hours long, with a prosecution and a defense from each school going against each other. In Mock Trial competitions the school you’re against is a secret until you’re in the room with them.
The competitions are in real courtrooms, and are taken very seriously. Each trial is treated with the same procedure as a real case. There is no talking or phones, and you must address the judge, when the judge walks in they stand up, etc.
The presiding judge is a real judge and the scorers of the competitions are actual lawyers and attorneys.
“The competitions are very serious. It feels so real, and gives us a great view of the real law field,” says senior Caroline Harper.
Mallory Jones, a senior, won top witness, meaning she got the highest score of the witnesses in each trial. Caroline Harper won top attorney.
The team practices around four hours a week to memorize lines, learn rebuttals, and become fully educated on their case. To prepare for state, they are doing extra practices and learning even more about their cases.
The GRC Red team for Mock Trial did not make it to state, but they did amazing for being new to the club.
Maahi Patel got best attorney and Gabriella Maldanado got best witness in their trials.
State for the Varsity Team is in Lexington and GRC will be against the top 16 teams – four teams from each region, and four teams received an open bid to compete.
“We are really excited to compete in state,” says Mallory Jones. “It’s really cool to see something we are all passionate about bring us success.”
