High school students become lawyers in Mock Trial Invitational
The hallways and courtrooms of the Lake County Courthouse came alive early in the morning of Feb. 25 as the 13th Annual Mock Trial Invitational took place.
The event began with a welcoming and greeting by Chief Judge Jorge Ortiz, followed by a briefing of activities for the day delivered by Circuit Judges Victoria Rossetti and Christen Bishop. The 16 high school teams competing against one another for first place included students from Bartlett, Carmel Catholic, Chicago Christian, College Prep of America, Evanston, Highland Park, Libertyville, Maine South, Maine West, Mundelein, Niles West, Normal Community, St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Timothy Christian and York.
By 9 a.m. the students were making their way to assigned courtrooms to begin their first trial session. The mock trial, selected by the Illinois State Bar Association, was titled "People of the State of Illinois vs. Taylor Cartwright." The case was set at Lakeview University and involved a coed university-sponsored honor society. During a Pledge Olympics event called "Water Jeopardy," one of the pledges (the victim) consumed a large amount of water, collapsed and passed out. After 911 was called the victim was taken to the hospital where he/she died two hours later. The autopsy revealed the victim died from a swollen brain stem caused by the large consumption of water. The defendant was the pledge master of the society and was charged with involuntary manslaughter and hazing.
The teams tried the case twice, at 9 a.m. and again at 10:45 a.m., first as the prosecution and then as defense. Students played out the roles of attorneys and witnesses and competed for outstanding performances. Lake County judges Luis Berrones, Charles Johnson, Christopher Lombardo, Veronica O'Malley, Elizabeth Rochford, Joseph Salvi, James Simonian and Christopher Stride presided over the trials while assistant state's attorneys, assistant public defenders and practicing trial attorneys volunteered to evaluate and score the students on their ability, presentation and effectiveness.
The Lake County Mock Trial Invitational is governed by the same rules and procedures that apply to the Illinois State Bar Association mock trial competition.
The ever-popular annual event was started in 2004 by Judges Rossetti and Bishop is sponsored by the Law-Related Education Initiative, the Lake County Bar Association and Bar Foundation, and the Lake County Juvenile Officers Association.
After a lunch break, an awards ceremony was held in the courthouse atrium. The top-scoring individuals, for their performances as attorneys and witnesses, were named and all winners were presented with trophies. Next, on behalf of the Lake County Bar Foundation, members Mark Peavey and Joann Fratianni made an announcement that they would be awarding the first-, second- and third-place winners with a check to help defray some of the expenses associated with the schools mock trial programs.
Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for: the announcement of the winning school teams. They were: Third place, Timothy Christian; second place, Chicago Christian; and first place, Bartlett. Checks were presented in the amounts of $100, $250 and $500, respectively.