The Stroudsburg Mock Trial team competed last month in the Pennsylvania Bar state competition. On Monday, Feb. 12th, the prosecution team competed.
Mock Trial, for those who do not know, is a competition where students pose as both attorneys and witnesses in a staged trial. The competitions are held in the Monroe County courthouse and judged by an actual judge.
“I feel like both the defense and prosecution teams did a great job on their cases in the state competition,” says Mock Trail president Nicole Valderrama, “I have seen the hard work and dedication that members have put into their roles and cannot be more proud of them. We have progressed a lot as a club in the recent year and I can’t wait to see the team continue to succeed in the future!”
Students are given a real court case in Pennsylvania history with names, dates, and locations changed to prevent students from looking up the real-life case.
The prosecution attorneys consisted of Kona Maronpot, Layla Macedon, and Sam Sroka.
Their witnesses were played by Aryanna Vidiac, Connor Potochnik, and Edward Heimbach.
The prosecution team came up short in their case but it was a close call.
“This particular case is difficult to prosecute,” says Mr. Robert Wood, the Mock Trial Coach of two years, “but the team did a good job overall.”
Layla Macedon won Best Attorney for the Stroudsburg prosecution team and Connor Potochnik won Best Witness. Layla is a repeat winner for Best Attorney, having won the award as a sophomore last year.
“Layla has taken to the role of Attorney since the day she started. She’s a natural,” says Wood.
The defense team dominated their opponent on Thursday, Feb. 15.
The attorneys for the defense, Nicole Valderrama, Hassan Malik, and Mikaela Lipitz, presented a powerful argument with steely resolve and unshakeable confidence.
The witness performers for the defense were Madison Cottle, Colton Leeth, and Logan Potochnik.
“Maddie has a contagious energy in everything she does and I think the judges took to that instantly.” — Wood, Mock Trial Coach
“The witness’ often get overlooked in Mock Trial as all eyes are understandably on the Attorney, but I felt we had an impressive unit this year,” says Wood.
Lipitz also took home a repeat Best Attorney award for the defense team, and Cottle took home the Best Witness award.
The team will not be advancing in the state competition but felt they made great strides this year.
Not to be forgotten. Awuah also served as the timekeeper for both trials.
