Aspiring courtroom contortionists put skills to test in mock trial

Something foul is at play in Clearwater, Wisconsin. Last May, Astor Rufflebottom was found murdered in their hotel room, reportedly repeatedly stabbed with an icepick. Forensic evidence concluded that M.S. Mossbridge, Rufflebottom’s primary rival in an upcoming video game tournament, is the culprit, but Mossbridge denies any involvement. Wisconsin’s Mock Trial court system didn’t even let the body get cold before stepping in as students of West’s team, consisting of prosecutors and defendants, competed against eight squads from around the region to close the case.

Despite the team’s commendable effort, West’s 15 Mock Trial attorneys and witnesses were defeated at the regional tournament on February 1 and will not be moving on to state competition. Senior Adrea Matulle, who served as a prosecuting attorney and team captain during this year’s season, believed the team would make it to the state level.

“I was optimistic about our chances of advancing to the state competition,” she said. “While I believe additional preparation could have enhanced our performance, overall, I felt confident in our team’s potential.”

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Matulle lost the opportunity to travel to the state competition when West’s team won regionals during her freshman year. However, she notes that the value of Mock Trial extends far beyond the opportunity to compete and win recognition.

“It’s an incredible experience that helps develop critical thinking, public speaking, and teamwork skills,” she said. “Plus, it’s a great way to challenge yourself, work with a dedicated team, and engage in exciting, real-world problem-solving.”

Coach Jacob Smasal agrees that the club offers an invaluable opportunity for students.

“I can’t think of a better club if you wanted to develop your argumentation skills, because that’s really what you’re doing—you’re going to a courthouse and you’re arguing with a bunch of strangers in front of judges and attorneys,” he said. “Students learn thinking on your feet, creative thinking, coming up with different attacks and defenses for different things other teams might do.”

Sophomore Brekken Urban, who served as a witness in this year’s case, believes that he learned valuable skills studying his affidavit and practicing quick thinking during cross-examination from the opposing team.

“I learned how to make yourself look good, what kind of words you use when you’re being asked a question,” he said.

During competition, volunteer judges—usually local legal professionals—evaluate individual witnesses and attorneys on their argumentation skills, opening and closing statements, adherence to time limits, and other criteria before casting ballots for teams to determine which will move on to the next level of competition. Teams need to represent both the defense and prosecution, which gives students a unique opportunity to role-play and compete amongst each other, ultimately to expand their knowledge on the legal system.

It is not uncommon for students interested in working in the legal field to utilize the club as an opportunity to dip their toes in the water. Urban, who is pursuing a legal profession, joined West’s team this year to learn more about the field and experience court proceedings first-hand.

“I definitely learned a lot,” he said. “I think it’s really fun. You learn some debate skills along the way, so if you want to debate or something, I think that would be really good.”

Former coach Daniel Lewis, who began his career as a lawyer, says that Mock Trial mirrors legal cases and court proceedings with a relatively high degree of accuracy, and emphasizes that the competition offers an opportunity to learn about the nation’s court system effectively. He reiterates that the confidence and skills students develop in participation remain applicable to a variety of careers, even outside of law.

“It gives students the ability to stand up and be eloquent in front of their peers and in front of judges and attorneys from the community, so I think if you do Mock Trial, you are going to get that public speaking element,” he said. “I think that is important for a lot of students to walk out of high school with that because wherever you go, you’re going to be expected to converse with strangers and to make arguments in front of strangers.”

Smasal notes that despite his vital role in organizing practices and guiding students, students are ultimately responsible for preparing their case and forming connections amongst themselves. This process invokes the sense of integrity and courage that he strives to accomplish with every student.

“I love when a student feels like they’ve accomplished something—they have this kind of eureka moment and then it all comes together,” he said. “That little rush that everyone gets, that’s probably my favorite thing. But it’s also great to see everybody every week and keep building those relationships and see the team come together.”

Both competitive debaters and students seeking a new challenge have ample opportunities for fun immersing themselves in affidavits and case material. The cases developed for competitions are particularly sensationalized and may have a particular appeal to a high school audience, as Smasal described.

“A couple of years ago, we had a case that was about a wrongful termination of an employee who believed she’d been wrongfully terminated from a donut shop,” he said. “The criminal case is always murder, that’s generally where it tends to go. Then, for civil cases, there’s wrongful death—basically, who’s trying to hold who is responsible for this.” 

Despite the benefits offered to those willing, Matulle acknowledges the general lack of student awareness about the activity, which she has identified as one source of weakness for the team.

“I hope Mock Trial gains more recognition as a club and attracts more members,” she said. “Looking ahead, I hope that Mr. Smasal is able to recruit another dedicated team of hardworking students who are passionate about advocacy and eager to help the club grow and hopefully advance to the state competition.”

West’s team encountered an unexpected hurdle this year when a number of participants realized they would not be able to make it to the regional contest just days before the tournament was set to take place. Smasal was impressed by the team’s ability in adapting to the plight.

“When you are training for a role for four months, when all of a sudden you can’t be in that role anymore, that offers some hardship,” he said. “We had one person who ended up with multiple roles, and they found out four days beforehand.”

The challenges faced by individual team members also led to unique opportunities for personal growth and team building, Matulle reflected.

“One challenge I faced this season was balancing my responsibilities as both a captain and an attorney,” she said. “To overcome this, I focused on time management, delegating tasks to teammates, and ensuring we worked collaboratively. By trusting my team and staying organized, I was able to fulfill both roles effectively and help our team succeed.”

Although West’s witnesses and attorneys participated in scrimmages against other schools leading up to the regional tournament, Lewis notes that it can be difficult to replicate the court setting during practice, creating some obstacles for less experienced team members while also making the competition experience uniquely rewarding.

“It’s a really weird competition in that you never see the competition until you actually get there,” he said. “On a basketball court, you’re shooting hoops, you’re playing basketball in practice. In…practice, you’re really just preparing for that one big event, which is the…competition, and it's going to be very rare that you will see that full case put into practice until the event itself.”

Smasal expects that the team will learn from this season and continue to grow in the future.

“I think we can always improve. There were definitely some positive takeaways from this year, but definitely also some things we can improve on,” he said. “I think my goals for [the future of] Mock Trial would just be steady improvement and trying to get back up to that state-bound level.”

by Aria Boehler

Published on February 24 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue V