This is one court that doesn’t need a ball or net. The Mock Trial club laid down the law in the preliminary rounds of the Kansas City Mock Trial competition on January 17 with a 3-0 win over Liberty North and a 3-0 loss to the Rockhurst A team on January 19. The team showed evidence of preparation with months upon months of hard work and now they’re making their case at the downtown Kansas City Municipal Courthouse.

“We’ve prepared cross-examination questions and we know what line we want to ask them,” sophomore Abby Maloney said. “That’s going to differ during the competition because we don’t know what they’re going to say, but we do know what we’re going to ask.”

If there’s a trial, there’s a case. This year the case involves the murder of a racquetball player with several potential suspects.

“You’re scored on how you play your part, how well you follow courtroom procedures when asking questions as a prosecutor or defense attorney,” club sponsor Ron Ludwig said. “Also, as a witness, can you portray the character with poise and confidence?”

With witnesses, they give very realistic testimonies.

“Honestly, when I first saw the emails, I was horrified,” junior witness Heather Shipley said. “The email opens in all capital letters saying ‘THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE’ and it goes on to say ‘you have that tournament in Big City this weekend. I will be there and we will discuss this. If you go through with this, you will regret that decision.’ Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty incriminating to me.”

In a competition, the teams don’t know if they will be the plaintiff or the defendant until they show up to the courtroom. There are three judges who listen to the cases and cast a ballot for either the prosecution or the defense. The judges’ ruling determines the winning side.

“They give point totals as well,” junior Emma Kenney said. “With those point totals, they used to determine what seeding we would be at the next competition, but now the point totals are more reference for what we need to improve on.”

In order for Mock Trial to be successful, students need to contribute to the team in different ways. After getting a packet in October with all of the needed information for the case, roles were assigned to each student in order to make sure everyone can contribute in a positive way.

“It’s a sense of inclusiveness,” junior James Hirsch said. “Everybody gets an opportunity to do something. Everyone gets a chance to be the star of the trial.”

With big goals and heavy motivation, the team is ready to get the show on the road. After last year’s fourth-place finish at state, they have big shoes to fill and expectations to top.

“Our hope this year is to hopefully win state,” Kenney said. “If you win state you get to go to the national competition, which, again, our school has never done.”

Along with current opportunities like going to competitions, Mock Trial also provides benefits for the future in college, law school or a law profession.

“Potential lawyers get to learn a lot about what a trial looks like and what you need to do to prepare for one,” sophomore Jake Hill said. “They get to know whether or not they really want to go into the field. Even if you don’t want to be a lawyer, it’s still a fun activity to meet people who are similar to you.”

With all of the time and effort this team has put into the case since October, they’re ready to witness it all pay off.

“The group that we have for Mock Trial is a great group of kids,” Ludwig said. “They’re very hard-working and fun to

be with. I can’t wait to see them in the courtroom and see how they perform.”