IT’S MOCK TRIAL SEASON!!

Akash+Shetty+cross+examining+Aadit+Bhatia

Akash Shetty cross examining Aadit Bhatia

Nihara Lijan

What is Mock Trial? Well, Mock Trial is just like what it sounds like! We have trials that are not real-life situations but we pretend they are. We have witnesses and attorneys. Each year we are given a case packet to study. This year we have a civil case, which means that what happened wasn’t a crime but it is a complaint between two different parties.

Our case this year is about how two students(Larry/Lauren Gendreau and Dani/Danny Mockowski) play the trumpet and they are chosen to compete in a competition. Both attend a a very prestigious school, New England Heights Institute of Music (NEHIM). On Sept. 20, 2019, the defendant, NEHIM, notified the plaintiff, Dani/Danny Mockowski (Mockowski), and their parents that Mockowski was suspended for five days beginning on Sept. 23, 2019, for finding that Mockowski engaged in conduct that caused physical or psychological harm to other students, and conduct that was disruptive to the school, malicious toward others, or intentionally damaging to the reputation of fellow students. So basically what happened was that Gendreau works part-time a music studio and therefore know how to use the technology there including splicing a recording. Mockowski and Gendreau are both supposed to submit a recording of them playing a piece of music. They are given a hard piece so Mockowski had to take a breath half way through. Gendreau won the competition and his recording was posted on the website and when Mockowski heard it, he knew it had to be spliced since there was a pretty obvious sound that someone put different recordings together and Gendreau works at a music studio. So since Mockowski is angry about this, he decides to post social media posts, tweets and a video. Of course the school thought this was a disruption so the Principal wasn’t happy and decided to suspend Mockowski for causing a disruption in the school environment and made kids in the school talk about this all the time. It is a pretty heated case between the two parties. This case is based on Mockowski’s suspension and whether it should be reversed or not.

We had 5 scrimmages. We had one against Walpole, two against Holy Name and Malden Catholic, one against Mansfield and one against Gann Academy. There are 3 Preliminary trials. The winners of the trials then go to a statewide elimination tournament. Mock trial got into the FINALS last year! That is amazing! We are a great team and being in Mock Trial is an experience that you will never forget. Sure, it can be hard and confusing to understand things at times, but that makes you learn so much more! Mock trial is a wonderful opportunity so join it next year and become part of an awesome community!