Mock Trial Team 2 Made Playoffs

Fiona Connell, Grade 10

Mock Trial’s regional competition season has arrived, and CAPA’s Team 2 passed the first two rounds and will advance to the playoffs along with other winning teams.

On January 31, Team 1’s defense and Team 2’s defense faced Gateway High School and South Fayette High School respectively at the City County Building in downtown Pittsburgh. Team 1 won by an average of about 28 points, and Team 2 won by an average of about 7 points.

Nearly two weeks later, on February 12, Team 1’s prosecution and Team 2’s prosecution faced Eden Christian Academy and Woodland Hills High School respectively, also at the City County Building. Team 1 lost by an average of 5 points, and Team 2 won by an average of 6 points. CAPA teams won 3 out of 4 of their regional matches altogether so far.

Because both their defense and prosecution won their trials, Team 2 advanced to playoffs in the first week of March.

In Mock Trial, a team consists of 12 members split into two sides–prosecution and defense.

Each side has three attorneys and three witnesses advocating for their view on the case.

Attorneys ask witnesses from their team questions in direct examinations and ask witnesses from the opposing team questions in cross-examinations. Opening and closing statements begin and end the match respectively, like in real trials. Each team has a limit of five minutes for each statement and 30 minutes for their directs and crosses.

Mock Trial matches happen in real courtrooms and are judged by the presiding judge. Three attorneys pose as the jury and score team members’ performances. The team 2 out of 3 jurors score higher than the other is the winning team. After the match ends, team members choose one lawyer and one witness from the opposing team to award as the “Best Advocate” and “Best Witness”. 

For the first trial, co-captain Dominic DiNunzio received the “Best Witness” award, and Danielle Swearingen received the “Best Advocate” award for Team 1.

On Team 2, Harrison Salvi received the “Best Witness” award, and Eva August received the “Best Advocate” award.

For the second trial, Heather Maceyko received the “Best Witness” award and Chris Eagleton received the “Best Advocate” award for Team 1.

On Team 2, Nina Suhrbier received the “Best Witness” award, and co-captain Elena Eiss received the “Best Advocate” award.

People who have considered joining Mock Trial should check it out next year. Since many team members will graduate this year, many spots on the team will be open. New members should join before the regional competitions start, and ideally before the annual Pitt Tournament.

Co-captain Elena Eiss says, “Even if you’re not sure what Mock Trial is or if you’d like it, come see a few meetings. Mock Trial is a classic high school extracurricular CAPA does… it doesn’t have most others. In a way, [Mock Trial is] kind of like a sport: we compete against other schools, get to represent CAPA and Pittsburgh Public [Schools]…and in the end it’s all about having fun as a team.”

There is plenty of time to attend meetings without having to commit to being on the team for competitions. Meetings focus on Mock Trial basics that can be applied to any case before the Pennsylvania Bar Association publishes the case the competitions center on.

After the case is published, team members and their coaches assign roles and start preparing for competitions.

Before regional competitions, teams from the state of Pennsylvania faced each other in a tournament hosted by Pitt Mock Trial in the Cathedral of Learning. CAPA teams won in 3 out of 8 of the collective matches, tied in 1, and lost in 4.