By J1 Reporter Abby Sparwasser

The general public has been constantly exposed to numerous pieces of crime filmography, such as “Law and Order” or “Legally Blonde” to name a few. The attorneys stare into the terrified eyes of their witnesses to intimidate them, their own creasing with purposeful intensity. They walk around the courtroom as if it is their palace and everyone else are just guests as they ask questions like, “Where were you when you heard the gunshot” or “how often do you get a perm.” A few dedicated students at Marian get to experience this on the regular, but it’s not quite what most people think.

Counselor Anna Sparwasser and social studies teacher Chris Dziadus moderate the Mock Trial program, which consists of 14 students. They assign each student a role of a witness, attorney or a timekeeper. This year, there are two teams with three of each role except for the timekeeper, where there is one per team.

The students are given either a civil or criminal case to read through and eventually play out. For this year’s teams, they were given a criminal case. The groups make their way to the courthouse where they compete. “They then present the case, and then they do that against another team,” Sparwasser said. Each team is judged on their performances, such as their acting skills for the witnesses and the defense or prosecuting points.

Before Sparwasser ran the club, it started as a “maybe someday.” She had thought numerous times about the Marian girls who were interested in the field of law. “This gives them an opportunity to see if they really want to [be in the field of law] and use their public speaking skills, and see if this is a way to explore the career,” Sparwasser said. Mock Trial had not been a choice in the past few years because of its indefinite hiatus, so it was especially important to her that students now got the chance.

As a moderator, Sparwasser has seen important qualities come out in the students, such as public speaking, preparation, organization and thinking on their feet.

However, Sparwasser isn’t the only adult involved. In fact, there are multiple attorneys that have generously volunteered their time to counsel students and lead them through the process.

Andrea McChesney is a local attorney who got an email asking for people like her to help with the team. Before this year, she had a son who participated in Mock Trial at Glenwood Community High School in Iowa. She was happy to become involved again and be a helping hand in the process. “[The students] need to be a team and everybody has to pitch in for each role,” McChesney said.

McChesney applauded how timekeeper junior Molly McChesney (coincidentally her daughter) took the place of a sick attorney. “She stepped right in and acted, took on the attorney role, and did phenomenal,” McChesney said.

A vital part of being in Mock Trial is having the ability to act. For both the attorneys and witnesses, it is an aspect that is challenging, but can be a rewarding experience. Sophomore Lou Smith is a witness for one of the teams and emphasizes how she can place herself in the shoes of the character.

Because witnesses have two roles for both prosecution and defense, they need to understand each character as individuals. “I prefer to play Casey, who is a bystander that intervenes. I get to have more fun with her character because I get to act more,” Smith said. Though memorization is extremely important, anticipation can be even more vital because the questions the opponent will ask are unknown. Though Smith enjoys the role she has, she would be open to trying different ones in the future. “It’s a good sacrifice,” Smith said. “Mock Trial is all about your team, and if you’re not there for the competition or for practice, it really brings down the rest of your team.”

The teams have had three competitions against teams from Elkhorn, Duchesne and Concordia. The students involved are continuing to grow in their roles and improve with each practice or event. Although Mock Trial isn’t necessarily the most well known activity, it is all the more important to future lawyers, attorneys or anyone else who has an interest in law because of the opportunity it brings.