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Budding lawyers hone skills at mock trial finals
McCOOK, Neb. -- "An accent and an attitude" and a closing statement on par with or better than collegiate competitors caught the attention of judge and jury during Nebraska Region 3 high school mock trial finals Nov. 25 in the Red Willow County district courtroom in McCook.
After a closing statement by junior Nicole Kent that presiding judge Morgan Farquhar said was one of the best he has seen in high school competition, Kent and her teammates from Dundy County Stratton High School went away with first place in the district competition.
The win over Perkins County High School earns DCS a trip to the state championship Dec. 9 and 10 in Papillion.
Scoring juror judge Kent Florom told Perkins County senior Hannah Beck that he loved the "accent and attitude" in her portrayal of sleazy loan shark Marion D'Amico. Fellow scoring juror judge Stephen Herman told Beck, with a grin, "I hope you're not that nasty in real life."
In the mock trial case researched and written by attorney/members of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation, DCS defended Gayle Gardner, charged with arson in the burning of her garden gnome factory and murder for the death in the fire of her factory's night watchman.
Prosecuting Gardner was Perkins County's legal team.
Perkins County's Hannah Beck was the loan shark who lent Gardner money to keep her business afloat. She described "Moose" and "Rocko" as her "business associates" who "encourage" the payment of debts.
The fire investigator's report gave rise to more questions than it answered. Threats by a disgruntled former employee, fired for stealing, created the possibility in the mind of jurors that he could have started the fire.
Enough "reasonable doubt" existed to find Gardner not guilty.
Florom, an attorney from North Platte, said there was "outstanding witness participation by everyone." He told Gayle Gardner, portrayed by DCS senior Tommy Waters, that her answer to the judge -- "But, Your Honor. I can't answer 'yes' or 'no'." -- was great. You handled it."
Florom told attorneys, "Let me give you a tip. Get the other side off their script, off balance." He told Nicole Kent that several points she made in her closing should have been offered in trial.
Herman, a Curtis attorney, told students, "It does an old guy's heart good" to see students doing mock trial." He also told them, "There was no one here today who sucked."
Herman praised Waters for her attention to attorneys' examination of her. "You made it tough for attorneys questioning you," he said. He also said that defense attorneys "did a great job" of putting attention on Bobby Gnush, the disgruntled former employee. "It was almost as if Gnush was on trial, not Gayle Gardner," he said.
Although Farquhar said he appreciated that the attorneys made no "pointless objections," he did say that Gardner's insurance policy "was ripe for objection. Quite a few objections could have been made."
Dundy County Stratton's team roster included: Marcus Fox, Laura Nelms and Nicole Kent, attorneys; Tommy Waters as defendant Gayle Gardner, Cole Lutz as Gardner's boyfriend Pat Murphy, and Fayelee Sanford as factory employee Shannon Stark, witnesses; and Bailey Peckham and Sheina Reagan as alternates. The team's teacher is Tracy M. Peckham; attorney-coach is Ashley K. Spahn.
Perkins County's team roster included: Kaleb Garr, Jakelynn Broeder and Renae Goodwin, attorneys; Amanda Reichert as fire investigator Ashley Empyrean, JoAnn Schrotberger as EMT Alex Firma and Hannah Beck as loan shark Marion D'Amico; and Mariah Curtis and Lila Konecky as alternates. Teacher-coaches are Scott King and Kalyn Hanson. The team's attorney-coaches are Lori Zeilinger and George Zeilinger.