WEST PORTSMOUTH— Only a few weeks ago, a culmination of months and months of preparation resulted in Portsmouth West High School’s Mock Trial team placing in the top nine Ohio schools after participating in the State Mock Trial Competition at the Franklin County Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio. At the courthouse, they won their first two competitions on March 7 to become one of nine teams advancing to Friday competitions.

Prior to State, the Portsmouth West High School team won the Runner-Up title at the Scioto County Mock Trial Competition, qualifying them to advance to Regional competition, where ninety other schools from Ohio competed. The team then won both their trials at the Regional competition, which qualified them to advance to State competition.

For the students who participate, there are two roles, but one mission: argue the best case.

The teams are broken down by witnesses and attorneys. The members of the team spend the school year pouring over the proposed case, which is fabricated for the competition. They work with coaches and legal advisors to break down the different elements of the case and prepare for bringing that case to life. Actors must know their characters inside and out and be able to represent that person on the stand under questioning. They must also memorize events and strategies designed in their practices. Attorneys must understand the law and not only defend their client but cross examine other witnesses.

“The 2024 Ohio Mock Trial case was uniquely challenging in that both the prosecution and defense bore some burden of proof,” Director of the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education’s Mock Trial Program Danielle Wilmot commented. “In traditional cases, it is only the prosecution that bears the burden of proving the crime in question, but this year’s Mock Trial case was multifaceted. The students took this challenge and ran with it, impressing the judges with their performance.”

Wilmot went on to say, “After two well-argued trials on the first day of the Mock Trial State Competition, nine teams advanced to the second day of competition by winning both of their trials. For the first time in several years, a play-in trial was required to narrow the field down to eight teams. OCLRE drew two teams at random to participate in a play-in trial to determine who would go on to compete in the quarterfinals. Portsmouth West was drawn to play the prosecution against Archbishop Hoban Team 1 defense. Both sides did an incredible job, with Archbishop Hoban coming out as the winner, and eventually going on to be the 2024 Ohio Mock Trial State Runner-Up.”

South Central Ohio Educational Service Center’s Sharee Price has been involved in the Mock Trial competition for many years and is always impressed with how prepared students are for the competition and how seriously they take their education.

“I watched the dress rehearsals for Mock Trial and was truly amazed by the students’ knowledge and the way the students conducted themselves in the courtroom. The judges for this event are practicing judges and lawyers and many of them commented on how impressed they were with the students’ knowledge and ability to present their arguments during the competition,” Price commented after the regional competitions. “The coaches and legal advisors for the teams also deserve to be recognized for all the time and effort they put into preparing the students for this event. It requires a huge commitment on everyone’s part to be really prepared to compete. While not all of the students who participate in Mock Trial will go on to study the law or become lawyers; they all benefit from having a better understanding of our legal system and how it works.”

The students on the team included: Kara Carter, Claira Davis, Jeremy Gravely, Elijah Kasper, Mollie Morrissette, Kylee Pollitt, Logan Ralstin, and Georgia Roe.

Kara Carter distinguished herself by winning eight Outstanding Attorney Awards during County, Regional, and State competitions. Logan Ralstin won two Outstanding Attorney Awards, and Georgia Roe won an Outstanding Witness Award at State competition.

Portsmouth West High School Mock Trial Coach Molly Sylvia explained, “This was my first year coaching Mock Trial. Christine Scott agreed to be our Legal Advisor and she brought years of Mock Trial experience with her. Together, with the students, we began studying the case in early October and had one 3-hour practice each week. We participated in a scrimmage at the University of Cincinnati and decided we needed more practice, so we started meeting two times a week. We later went to the Buckeye Brawl and realized that we needed to really buckle down and work even harder. This was a defining moment for us. The work ethic of this team’s members was phenomenal, and the students were begging Christine and me for more time. We ended up practicing at least nine hours a week. The students had a constant drive to improve.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.