Advisors: Andrea Jordan and Fred Ravan

Mock Trial gives students the opportunity to try their hand at law. Students play the parts of witnesses and lawyers and compete in actual courtrooms with real Maine judges. Along with acquiring a knowledge of the law, students also hone their public speaking skills.

MOCK TRIAL KICKS OFF ANOTHER SEASON:

By:  Bekah Clark, Student Writer

What if at the ages of 15-18 you had the chance to go into an actual court room, perform a court case in front of an actual judge, get help from actual lawyers, and have it be just for fun? Well, that is what the Mock Trial Team at Brewer High offers students.

Mock trial can be for anybody, whether you are interested in becoming a lawyer or not. What students do is take a case and perform it in front of an actual judge, a lawyer helps students with the prosecution, and then students take it to “regionals” and hopefully “states” like a sports team would.

Mock trial has five rounds: round one, round two, quarterfinal round, semifinal round, and finals.

Samantha Arias, a junior, and Evan Kizer, a sophomore, told me that it is much like the television show Law and Order.

“When I first heard about it on the morning announcements I was like, ‘What in the world is mock trial?’” Sam said in speaking of why she got involved in Mock Trial.

She continued to explain how it sounded interesting to her, so she decided to go to the meeting. When I asked Evan the same question, he told me that Mr. Ravan, one of their coaches, advises Mock Trial along with Ms. Jordan.

“Having a legit judge there is what makes me the most nervous…I just picture Judge Judy!” Sam told me.

During our conversation Sam and Evan told me that while they are in the courtroom performing their trial, Ms. Jordan and Mr. Ravan must sit in the back
of the courtroom and watch. They are not allowed to help them with anything.

Evan explained to me how the case they use IS NOT an actual court case, but he and Samantha both thought it was at first before they were told otherwise.

The case this year is about a school named “Stephen King High School” in Castle Rock, Maine. At S.K.H.S. a container with a clear liquid in it was found in a trash can along with wires, a wristwatch, a battery, and a metal igniter strip. The container is brought to a preliminary lab and identifies the liquid as a paint thinner and Doxene, a common industrial cleaner. In the case, students are questioned when the police  find an almost empty container of paint thinner in a student’s garage.

The Mock Trial team is still currently practicing and will perform their court case this October.