Students compete for ruling

HARLEM VALLEY — “Objection, Your Honor ...”“Your Honor, if I may ...”“Thank you, Your Honor.”A little civility was brought to the proceedings at the Pine Plains Courthouse on Tuesday, March 22, among the banter (and occasional badgering) that one might expect from a highly anticipated trial. And from her bench, presiding Town Justice Christi Acker kept the lawyers in line, sustaining and overruling numerous objections.In fact, there was only one major difference between this particular case and any of the others than Acker might hear on a given day: Last week’s was a Mock Trial and the two teams of lawyers and witnesses were actually high school students from the Webutuck and Pine Plains school districts.This year more and more Mock Trial contests are being held at the local courthouse level, due to budget woes at the county level. Pine Plains and North East are just two recent examples.Mock Trial teams across the state receive the same case each November and have until January to study it and prepare to play both the side of the prosecution and the defense throughout the season, alternating between trials. This year it’s a civil case revolving around a local village board passing a parking ban on streets surrounding a local high school, a move that the plaintiffs contend is illegal.The case is specific in providing witnesses, statements and local law information, but it is intentionally vague in the matter of who’s in the wrong or the right. That means each trial is less about the actual case and more about the way in which the teams present their argument. Depending on the strategy, both sides should have an equal chance of winning.The March 22 trial was Acker’s first time presiding over a Mock Trial contest as a judge; she said that after finishing graduate and law school she did help mentor a local high school team.“I think they’ve been so excellent,” she said during a break in the trial. “I’m not sure I would be able to do what they’re doing at that age.”Acker said that since it was her first time working with Mock Trial, her goal was to try to make the courtroom environment “as realistic as possible.” That meant taking lawyers to task when they made objections, making them explain their case before rendering a decision.“I know this isn’t easy, and I know how much work is involved,” she told the teams before rendering a verdict in favor of the defense (Pine Plains) at the end of the lengthy trial. “The scoring was exceedingly close.”Teams only receive their own score for a trial, not the other team’s. At the end of the regular season, the total scores are tallied and, if high enough, a team advances to county quarter-finals. The disadvantage to that system, pointed out by Webutuck’s teacher advisor Steven Pollack (Lawrence Moore is the team’s attorney advisor), is that Webutuck won’t know how it’s doing throughout the season; if they do move on to the quarter-finals, the team will only know a few days in advance of the actual trial.The Pine Plains team, which is advised by teacher John Schoonmaker and two local attorneys, Sarah Jones and Richard Sinrod, has won the county title three times in the last six years. With the win over Webutuck, it is now 2-0 this season, with two preseason victories as well.“It was a good learning trial for the team,” said senior Robyn Downing during Pine Plains’ first Mock Trial meeting after the contest against Webutuck.“Webutuck has a very aggressive style, which keeps you on your toes,” said sophomore Nathan Badore, who played a witness for the defense. Webutuck noticeably struck a more intimidating pose during questioning. While Pine Plains’ lawyers tended to stand from behind a podium, Webutuck’s attorneys made a point of moving up close to the witness stand and several of the cross-examinations raised the temperature in the room a few degrees.“But we know how to fight back against that now,” Jones said at the Mock Trial practice.“Objection, Your Honor, I can’t see my witness,” Downing reiterated.“From my point of view, it’s not intentional,” Webutuck senior Alura Penny said at her team’s own practice, laughing. Penny is one of the Webutuck’s lawyers and led perhaps Webutuck’s most aggressive cross-direct during the trial. “It just seems to happen once I get up there.”But at least part of it is strategy on Webutuck’s side, senior Alyssa Biscoglio added.“We’re really the only team that I’ve seen that moves around the courtroom,” she said. Both Biscoglio and Penny have been on the team since freshmen year and are both prosecution and defense lawyers.“The closer the lawyer is to you,” added Chase Tetpon, who is one of the witnesses for Webutuck, “the more uncomfortable you feel.”As heated as the trial might have seemed in the moment, however, when Justice Acker retired to her office to tally the points at the end of the trial it was all smiles, and the students stepped across the aisle, introducing themselves and complimenting the other school’s efforts. No longer lawyers, at a moment’s notice the students were simply teenagers again.The trial in Pine Plains lasted nearly three hours, which both sides said was one of the longest trials they had been a part of. Part of the time spent was on the sheer number of objections, and adding to it, Webutuck said that Justice Acker was the first judge they’d seen who asked lawyers to justify their objections.“You could argue your point,” said Jeanne Boyd, Webutuck’s other attorney representing the plaintiff. “I liked it. Usually you have to ask the judge, ‘May I explain?’”Only two trials into the season, both schools said they were noticeably improving with each contest.“I personally did better,” Pine Plains lawyer Oisin O’Reilly, a sophomore, said. “I was less nervous this time.”“With every trial you get more comfortable doing it,” added Pine Plains’ final defense lawyer, senior Stephanie LeCain.Megan McCoy, another of Webutuck’s witnesses, said that knowing the affidavits was crucial.“There are always little points we never even thought of,” she said. “A lot of being a witness is being prepared for that.”The last trials for teams throughout the county will have ended by March 31, and the next round of trials, for the teams that advance, will be held in early April.But whether Webutuck moves on or not, Pollack said it should be noted that even in the current economic climate, the school and the Dutchess County BAR Association have continued to be supportive of the Mock Trial program.“It’s been a creative challenge,” he said. “But it’s a real testament to grown-up people continuing to try to do what’s best for these teenagers under very difficult circumstances.”As for the students, everyone interviewed attested to the amount of fun it was to be in the middle of the action.“It’s like time stops,” said Biscoglio. “Nothing else exists except for that trial. You don’t notice anything else going on, just your adrenaline going.”

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