Mock Trial team members Alice Adams, a senior, and Kelly Floyd, a junior, (left to right) review for their upcoming competition on February 10. Mock Trial sponsor Matthew Regester felt the bonds made within the team are what encourage students to join Mock Trial. “The team experience is more important than the law experience. Some people are more so in it for the drama aspect of acting (as) the witness relatives. Some people do come for the ‘I want to be a lawyer,’ but I would say most people come for just the team experience and the competition,” Regester said. Photo by Aza Khan
The Clarke Central High School Mock Trial team will compete in the Athens Region 8 Competition on Feb. 10 at the University of Georgia’s School of Law campus.
The Clarke Central High School Mock Trial team is suiting up for their first competition of the year on Feb. 10 against Westminster Christian Academy at the University of Georgia School of Law.
At their Feb. 10 competition, CCHS students will face off against WCA, where they will be battling it out within the three positions of attorney, witness, and timekeeper.
“Attorneys, they’re your standard lawyers, they do objections, practice the law, do direct examinations and cross-examinations,” Mock Trial team member Tavarus Smith, a senior, said. “Witnesses are the actual characters, they play a character in the case, make sure that the jury can see them record points for all of (the match), and then timekeepers keep the time.”
CCHS’ Mock Trial team holds the titles of 1999 National Champions and 1998, 1999, and 2004 Georgia State Champions. For Smith, a return to CCHS’s glory years is the target.
“We’re trying to win nationals. We’re trying to make it so (in) 2024 we win it again,” Smith said.
“Logically speaking, we probably should do a little bit better but sometimes with Mock Trial it kind of depends on what teams you’re paired against. Who knows if (our placement) will be better, but I think the team is better than it was last year.”
— Matthew Regester,
Mock Trial sponsor
With a majority of the previous year’s juniors returning as seniors, the team’s goal this year is to surpass their score in the 2022-2023 school year where they placed 5th in the state.
“Logically speaking, we probably should do a little bit better but sometimes with Mock Trial it kind of depends on what teams you’re paired against,” Mock Trial sponsor Matthew Regester said. “Who knows if (our placement) will be better, but I think the team is better than it was last year.”
As the competition inches closer, the team has been putting in the proper effort to compete at a higher level than before, according to Smith.
“I’d say (the Mock Trial competition) is most definitely gonna be a fun event. Mock Trial is really fun but requires a lot of preparation,” Smith said. “It’s writing, reading, just doing that over and over again until it’s just drilled into your memory. But other than that, it’s very fun.”
