Mock Trial
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Just like last year, the 7th and 8th grades just held mock trials.
Each one of us was either be a defender or prosecutor for a Ms. Monica Hewitt, being tried for the murder of Jennifer While, a parachutist whose parachute cords were allegedly cut by Hewitt, causing her to plunge to her death.
In the days leading up to the trials, (which were on a Friday), about half the class and I received training for being a defense attorney from Kasra Sadr, a TCS parent who is a lawyer.
The other half of the class was prepped for being prosecutors by John Fraher, the same lawyer that’d helped us with our Scopes mock trial from last year.
I had a lot of fun in those days that we spent preparing for our trials. My group learned the best tactics to take in order to prove Hewitt innocent, how to take them, and we spent significant time strategizing as a group, sharing ideas.
So when the day of our trials came up, I felt like I had all of the preparation I needed to successfully argue that Monica Hewitt was innocent, that is, she did not commit an act that caused the death of Jennifer White.
And I thought I did pretty well as a defense lawyer. I thought I argued it pretty well. I thought I had a truly passionate and convincing closing argument. I thought I would win.
The only thing that worried me was Charlie’s testimony as a witness. He did an excellent job of being a difficult witness to handle and I wasn’t entirely sure how to defeat him.
But still, I had thought that I’d been quite successful in dealing with him. I was confident.
Yet, the jury decided against me. They found Hewitt guilty and decided towards sending her to jail.
And I can’t figure out exactly why. But I’m pretty sure it was Charlie’s testimony as a witness.
I’m not complaining. I think I did an excellent job n my closing argument, which was what I cared about most. And I really do think it is better to have someg be too challenging than too easy. I’m not just saying that to make myself feel better.
I think my favorite part of the experience was the days that m group spent with Kasra Sadr, preparing for being defenders. I had a good time. A great time, actually. To tell you the truth, the experience had made me interested in being an actual criminal defense lawyer someday.
