THE PINI N
Student-edited paper of McKinley High School Vol. 92 No. 5
Honolulu, Hawaii
March 2014
Students gain confidence through mock trial experience
Art from commons.wikimedia.org
by Lin Song, reporter Holding binders in hand, some people dressed in black suits debate the case of a teenage girl who lost her baby after driving drunk. Are they professional lawyers? No, they are MHS students. The Law Society Organization competed in the 2014 Hawaii High School Mock Trial Tournament. The tournament lasted for five weeks from January to February. Qualified lawyers and teacher Eric Bott guided the team. Mock trial is an extracurricular program in which students participate in rehearsed trials to learn about the legal system in a competitive manner. It is popular among the high schools in America. Many of them are competing for national prizes. In each trial, one team represents either the defense or prosecution. Winners are not decided on the outcome of the case, whether the defendant would have been tried as guilty or not guilty. Instead the scores are based on the performance of their own role. Competitions require a team to develop
an argument to present in front of a judge. It is important for a law society member to be confident and prepared. Each member can choose his or her own role as a lawyer or a witness. Lawyers are in charge of presenting a case. There will be an opening statement, direct questioning, cross questioning and closing arguments. Opening statements and closing arguments are meant to tie together the facts of the case. Direct lawyers need to ask questions to their assigned witness to bring out the evidence that helps their case. Cross lawyers poke holes in the opposing witness statements to make them seem less credible. Witnesses memorize their statements so that they can perform well during direct and cross questioning. Both lawyers and witnesses should be able to adapt to circumstances like forgetting the testimony or being nervous. The challenges are not simply to master the techniques on the court. Law Society’s president, Silvana Mae Bautista, faced many problems while arranging the roles for the competition.
The person assigned the role at first may have difficulties getting to the trial on that day. Bautista needed to make backup plans and find another person to replace the former one. Teammates should also have the heart to contribute their time and maybe take dual roles for the benefit of the whole team. Everyone is supposed to come to Tiger Time for the club meeting every day during the competition session. The performance of everyone counts into the total score. Students practice together and become each other’s tacit partners. Member Keisha Togores said that the feeling was both nervous and exciting. As a witness, sitting alone beside the judge as well as being confronted by an opponent lawyer, she felt it was hard to perform perfectly. However, she said that the mock trial has developed her confidence. “Standing there is really stressful, but only the difficulties you regard as can make you stronger,” Togores said.