Posted: 4/5/07
Student wins state honor in mock trial
By Joel Stottrup
Princeton High School junior, Hope Hennessey, has received a state honor for her professionalism as a high school mock trial member.
Mock trial is an extracurricular activity in which students learn about the American legal system by taking on roles in fictional trials.
High school teams compete against each other by either being the defense or the prosecution in a fictitious case. All the schools get the same case. This year the case involved a juvenile being charged with trespassing and vandalism at a cemetery.
Teams are not graded on whether they win or lose the case (in fact they are not even told the outcome, according to PHS team co-coach Stacy Oehlke). Rather they are given points on how well they do their job in the courtroom setting either defending or prosecuting.
Each team also has to have three witnesses for either the defense or prosecution.
The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) has a professional committee that gives one state award for mock trial professionalism in each of three categories - individual, team and coaches.
The professionalism award, according to Emily Reilly, mock trial manager for the MSBA, is for having done the best among the nominees in exhibiting and modeling the professionalism that attorneys and others in the legal system aspire to.
Hennessey received the individual professionalism award from the MSBA at the Marriott Hotel in Rochester March 14.
"It was a lot of fun going down to the hotel," said Hennessey last week about receiving the state honor.
"I was exceptionally proud of her," said Oehlke. "She has done a phenomenal job all the time."
Hennessey had two roles on the team. She was either the lead attorney for the defense, or an attorney for the prosecution, depending on the team's assignment during a meet.
Hennessey was also very helpful to the other team members and was "very well put together" in her presentations in the courtrooms, Oehlke added.
The competitions take place in actual courtrooms and real life judges or attorneys preside.
The mock trial
season
The PHS team competed at a Mississippi 8 Conference meet and then moved into the two regional rounds. PHS advanced to the section finals, or third round, which was at Buffalo, and won.
The team was ultimately defeated in the fourth round in Foley.
Hennessey and Oehlke said the team did very well this season, while co-coach Jon Meinke used the word "OK" to describe how it did.
All three said they are going to work hard next year to advance the team to state competition.
Hennessey said she wants to become a defense attorney someday.
"You have to think on your feet and improvise when questioning someone," she said of the mock trial experience. But the attorney also has to be careful not to "badger" someone on the witness stand when getting the information she added.
Regarding this year's case, the fictitious cemetery-vandalism and trespass case the State vs. Jesse Dubois, Hennessey said the defense seemed to have a stronger case. She explained that there was no concrete evidence that Dubois had been at the cemetery during the alleged time of the vandalism.
Also, there were witnesses who testified Dubois had been at home at the time, she said.
When the PHS team served as the prosecution, Hennessey said there was some evidence to use, including footprints at the cemetery. Hennessey also added there was a watchman who testified having seen Dubois leave the scene.
It was a case in which the judgment of Dubois could have gone either way, she said.
Hennessey said the two PHS coaches were very helpful and mentioned there was even some extra help from former PHS instructor Ruth Kronlokken. She was once a coach for the PHS mock trial team on a regular basis.
Team members, according to Hennessey, are hoping for a summer camp this year to study mock trial procedures, and would also like to attend a mock trial seminar in November.
Princeton Union-Eagle
P.O. Box 278
Princeton, MN 55371
Telephone: 763-389-1222
Fax: 763-389-1728