Elementary Mock Trial Winners Present Cases Virtually to Judges and Juries
Members of the Birches Elementary and Bells Elementary Mock Trial teams set foot into a New Jersey courthouse virtually on May 18, 2022, individually presenting their cases before a judge and a jury of their peers. The court visits were the reward for fifth-grade ELEMEnTS students’ outstanding work in the 2022 New Jersey Bar Association Law Fair mock trial contest.
Birches Elementary, under advisor Arlene Gerber, won first place for their original case “The Case of the Maimed Model,” and Bells, under Chris Janeczko, earned an honorable mention for their original case “The Case of the Captured Card: State vs. Finderskeepers.” Members of the winning team from Birches included Travis Bartelt, Abigail Beck, Hannah Cummings, Brody Edelman, Addison Gramble, Reed Haigh, Abigail Hanna, Mia Rose Leibrand, Madeline Rosenbaum, and Emma Schumacher. The Bells mock trial team included Anabela Baur, Lyla DiMartino, Nick Hahn, Andrew Hamilton, Ethan Kang, Aubree Longwell, Rory Miller-Bublyk, Mason Paul, Max Potter and Amelia Smith.
“It went very well,” said Gerber, of her students' appearance before a jury at Brigantine Elementary.. “I think the judge was very impressed with the direct and cross-examination questions that the students developed, and he also was impressed with their level of preparation. The jury found in favor of the defendant.”
The defendant in the Bells’ case also was declared not guilty.
“I thought it went well,” Janeczko said. “The jury in the case was an elementary school from Hoboken. The judge answered a few questions and spoke about mock trial competitions for older students and how they are different from the elementary version.”
Birches fifth grader Brody Edelman was among mock trial team members who presented their case “The Case of the Maimed Model.”
Bells mock trial student (from left) Lyla DiMartino (back to camera) Aubree Longwell, Mason Paul and Anabela Baur presented their case “The Case of the Captured Card: State vs. Finderskeepers” to a judge and jury virtually on May 18th.
Click here for a photo gallery of the presentations of the cases.