Cross Town Mock Trial

By Eve Christensen

On Tuesday, December 11th, students from both Capital High and Helena High Law and Justice classes met up at the courthouse to decide the fate of “Stacy Collins” the defendant played by students from both schools (there were so many students that there were two version of the same trial). The students and parents split into two sides: Defense and Prosecution. The rooms filled with parents and students to hear the story of Stacy Collins( accused of bodily harm) and Avery Miller. The trial in which CHS did the prosecuting resulted in a hung jury which is when a jury can’t be swung decisively in one direction; the jury voted eleven to two. For the trial in which CHS represented the the defense was also a hung jury with the votes being eight to three.

For the past two months the law and justice students have worked their hardest to prepare for the cross town mock trial, perfecting their opening and closing statements, their questions for the witnesses and much more. The CHS teacher, Kent Haab, questioned the witnesses to a point where they were left stumped, pushing them to be the best of the best. Habb also pushed the lawyers and researchers to their ‘A game’; he even brought in lawyers from Helena to help. Sitting in the class watching the lawyers and research teams at first was relaxed but as the day of the trial got closer and closer, it got more and more and more stressful with everyone cracking down on the witnesses. The defense lawyers from Capital High School were Cassie Williams, Taylor Chriske-Hall who worked with their research team. The prosecution had Krista Blankenship and their research team. For the witnesses Capital had Jonathan Goslar as Stacy Collins and Mason Harmon as Avery Miller, Isaiah Harrison as Dustie.

The day of the trial, the nervousness in the classroom was palpable. The teams read their polished opening and closing statements, drilling the cross over witnesses with questions. Mr. Haab pretended to be the judge, overruling or sustaining the objections that the lawyers had. Students left the class with only a lunch meeting for lawyers and witnesses left to practice. The teams left school only to meet up again at five-thirty, at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse. Both the Capital and Helena High students and parents walked up to the Courthouse and into the courtrooms to see the work and effort everyone had put in.

In the courtroom, the lawyers talked to each other, people were filing in and it felt like a real trial. At the beginning of the trial, both sides gave their opening statements, and then the lawyers asked questions to the witnesses.

In one of the trial, there was concern that lawyers were nodding their heads yes and no to their witnesses (which isn’t allowed), but At the end of the trial the judge, a role played by a Helena attorney, kept students a little longer saying that he was impressed with how well everyone did with everything from entering the evidence, questioning and much more.