Mock Trial Continues to
Battle
By Caroline Evans
It was a dark, gloomy
night in Canville on May 21, 2004. Darian Kendall and Robin Avery
met in the parking lot of their college to study for finals. Vanessa
Foley and Mo Lancaster, Darien’s arch nemesis, rolled up
to the unsuspecting duo. Words were exchanged and Kendall quickly
walked to her car and left the parking lot followed by Avery,
Foley and Lancaster. At the intersection of Main and Garner, as
night was growing darker, Foley pulled in the opposing direction
lane. She started yelling at Kendall and Kendall responded. As
the light turned green, Kendall sped off and left Vanessa to crash
into a light pole, which led to her “grizzly demise.”
Kendall is charged with vehicular manslaughter and an illegal
contest of speed.
Is Kendall guilty of all these charges? The defense and prosecution
teams of Valley will battle against others schools to decide Kendall’s
fate. These debates are treated like real trials. There are real
judges and a small jury. Students play out the roles of attorneys,
witnesses, bailiff, and timekeeper.
The Valley Christian Mock Trial team was formed last year. Ms.
Jennifer Griffin, sophomore English teacher, oversees the team.
Her sister, Lori Stuart, and friend Jose Franco also help out
with the team. Stuart and Franco are both defense attorneys for
the county of Santa Clara.
The Mock Trial team has been hard at work since October. Every
Monday night the team can be found in Ms. Griffin’s room
formulating their arguments late into the night.
On January 15, the team participated in their first competition
of the year. The prosecution went against the Gilroy High team.
The Gilroy High team has won on several occasions in their county,
and has gone to state a couple of times. The prosecution held
their own, however, in the end, the prosecution lost on every
charge. The Valley Defense team had better luck. After a hurried
lunch, the team was off to challenge Saratoga High. The trial
lasted a little under two hours and Darian Kendall was found guilty
on vehicular manslaughter and innocent on an illegal contest of
speed.
During the month of February, the Mock Trial team will be involved
with a competition, debating against schools like St. Francis,
Harker, and Leigh. Last year, during the same competition, the
defense team was fourth out of twenty schools, while the prosecution
ranked eighteenth out of twenty schools.
