Collins Hill MOCK Trial

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your Honor, if it would please the court” . . .

It has been alleged that there are several students here at Collins Hill High School who are not yet members of our MOCK Trial Club and further alleged that they should be coming to our meetings and getting involved.

I object to that allegation, your Honor. Surely it is hearsay! No student would intentionally ignore such a great opportunity to use their drama, speech, and other personal skills, would they?! Surely not!

If it pleases the court, I would like to enter the following statement into evidence in support of my case.

“Any student who is 14 years of age or older (or will be before our competition in February) is hereby put on notice that we are still seeking answers as to why one would totally ignore this great opportunity to become involved in Mock Trial.

It has already been established by previous witnesses that students can join us as we prepare for tryouts for a role on our Mock Trial Competition Team. Furthermore, we have already established a need for members who are passionate about the area of law and who want to exhibit their skills as they join either the Prosecution or the Defense Team in trying our challenging criminal case at competition. We need witnesses, we need attorneys, we are entering a plea of guilty as far as seeking, and dare I say pleading for more members.

The facts are clear. We meet each Tuesday at 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. in Room 1.016. A local attorney is already involved in preparing us for trial. Don’t wait to be subpoenaed. Join us at our next meeting.”

MOCK Trial is a club for students interested in acting or pursuing a career in law or for those students who enjoy public speaking and using critical thinking skills. You are given the facts of a case and you act as either a witnesses or an attorney to represent your side. Initially, Ms. Byous and Ms. Settles work with members, and then attorneys from the community will join us and take over to teach members how to conduct trials, ask questions, be a witness, etc.

In the fall, Mock Trial meets once a week on Tuesdays at 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Room 1.016. There are two months of intensive preparation through January and February. Competition is held in February over a Friday night and Saturday morning. Every school will receive the case on December 1. The meetings in the spring semester will be held at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.

Any student who will be 14 at the time of competition in February may join. There are six positions for attorneys and six positions for witnesses. Additionally, two time keepers are needed. Auditions for these positions will be held in December. The team also needs understudies who prepare to participate in court if an emergency arises with the attorneys or witnesses..

Registration dues for MOCK Trial are $15 for the year. There are many awards to becoming a part of MOCK Trial. You will develop your communication and thinking skills as you experience “real life” in the courtroom. The competition judges are actual judges and attorneys who volunteer their time to work with our members.

Our MOCK Trial Officers for the 2005-2006 School Year are President-Dave Matthews, Vice-President Charles Ford, Historian-Sonia Golemme, Secretary-Courtney Telfare, and InterClub Council (ICC) Representative, Justin Ham.

Ms. Stacy Byous and Ms. Trish Settles are our CHHS MOCK Trial Advisers.