The Harriton Mock Trial team competed in the quarterfinal round of the PA Bar Mock Trial competition, Tuesday, February 7. Only the prosecution team was able to go, although the defense team came for support. The competitor in the round was the defense team of The Haverford School, team A. In the end, the jury ended up ruling in favor of The Haverford School.

The competition was held at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown. Counsel for the Harriton prosecution was composed of Caroline Bluestein, Ben Feldman, and Analyn Sil. Harriton called three witnesses: ATF investigator Leslie Duesenberg (Calum Urquhart), mother of the defendant Effie Edsel (Anna Fleming), and co-worker of the defendant Salve DeSoto (Sindu Soundararajan).

Relatively few objections were sustained during the round. While Harriton made several objections, the judge was unwilling to sustain any of them. The Haverford School did object on a few occasions, with only one sustained. Haverford also employed a strategy for the round not previously practiced by the Harriton team, involving a display of the actions that the defendant has taken since reforming.

In the end, the jury announced unofficially that it ruled in favor of the defense. However, on the following day, the PA Bar website showed that Harriton had won and scheduled the Harriton defense to compete in the semifinal round two weeks away. Only later was the website amended to show that Haverford had, in fact, won.

An end-of-season celebration will follow the year’s success. In the fall, there will be an increased emphasis on recruiting, as there are currently no underclassmen on the team.