Trinity advances to statewide competition
Trinity High School is one of 14 high schools advancing to the 35th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition Friday and Saturday at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. The competition is sponsored by the PBA Young Lawyers Division.
The Trinity High School team is composed of students Danny Dillon, Jeff Ecker, Zach Ecker, Ope Esan, Carson Nutter, Elliott Salvatori and Alison Spadaro. The teacher coach is Mary Ellen Jutca. The attorney advisors are James B. McCune and Corey Kirkwood.
The Trinity team moves on to the state level as winners of the Region Three area of competition that includes schools in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Mifflin, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
This year, 291 teams from 249 high schools competed in district and regional levels of Pennsylvania’s mock trial competition in hopes of gaining one of the 14 spots at the statewide competition. Pennsylvania’s competition is one of the largest in the nation.
The winning team of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held May 10-12 in Reno, Nev.
This year’s hypothetical case is a civil trial to determine whether the plaintiff, who exposed a fellow colleague’s alleged bribery, was withdrawn an offer to her employer’s Leadership Development Program in retaliation against her whistleblowing to cover up the bribe or a business decision to cut ties with an unreliable employee.
During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisors in preparing for competition. Lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams’ abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules.
The Pennsylvania Cable Network will record the final round of the competition for airing statewide at 7 p.m. March 31, 2 p.m. April 1 and 7:30 p.m. April 5.
For information, visit www.pabar.org.