Harriton’s mock trial team is like a sport, practice makes perfect.  This was evident this past February when out of thirty-two teams in Montgomery County, Harriton and Mount St Joes battled it out for the winning spot.

Winners of finals then qualified for states. Harriton has not had a mock trial team go this far in ten years!

Co-Coached by Ms. Jawork and attorney Anthony DeMichele, the team would have weekly meetings, where they learned attorney and witness roles.  There the students would prepare for both the prosecution and defense side of a third-degree murder case published by the Young Lawyers Division of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

The twelve-member team had attorneys playing witness roles, attorneys role playing both sides, witnesses playing both sides, and various other crazy matchups.  Seniors, Sydney Berger and David Lincoln, were ecstatic that the season went so well.

Starting at the end of January, Harriton would compete weekly at Montgomery County Courthouse, as either the defense or the prosecution, to see if the team would go on to the next round.  Harriton won as defendant and the plaintiff by unanimous jury decisions.

However, this was not enough and Harriton then attended a playoff round where they won unanimously again against Wissahickon.  Weekly meetings turned into tri-weekly meetings, complete with occasional Sunday practice.  Obviously, the team’s hard work paid off, as Harriton then moved on to the second round.  There, the team dueled it out against seven other teams for another victory and unanimous jury ruling.  Moving on to the Semifinals, Harriton won against Lower Moreland’s A team and sailed on to finals.

In a twist of fate, Harriton was now facing Mount St. Joseph’s A team after previously beating their B team in the Second Round.  Better yet, Harriton had lost in the Second Round last year to Mount St. Joseph’s A team.

Harriton increased the number of weekly meetings to prepare as much as possible. Footage was reviewed and scrutinized from previous cases.  Cross and direct examinations were modified.  Openings and closings for the trial were reassembled and then re-memorized.  Strategies were worked, re-worked, and then worked some more.  Exhibits were marked, examined, and then re-interpreted.   Rules of Evidence were drilled and learned.

Finally, the day of finals arrived.  Top members of the Montgomery County Bar Association were in attendance. Team Harriton held their own with a 7-2 in favor of Mount St. Joseph.

Next year, Harriton’s mock trial team is looking to advance even further. Watch out Mount St. Joseph, Harriton is coming, and they are coming with a vengeance.