Braves Face Tribulation at the Trial

On Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016 at 7:30 am, the Talawanda Braves Mock Trial team coached by Program director Amanda Weatherwax and Miami University students JP Prusakowski, Spencer Anderson (THS alum), and Sami Baker (THS alum), set out to prove their skills in the second annual Miami University Mock Hawk Tournament.  At the beginning of the tournament, Braves defense consisting of juniors Hannah Carlson and Amily Zou-Wang and seniors Dakota Bailey-Van Kuren and Kendall Cramer stepped up to defend CAT News in a civil case that was brought on by Pat Justice suing the news station for defamation.  Pat Justice was accused of murdering a high school principal after being near the man, I. M. Veritas, who suffered from a fatal brain aneurysm.  

Unfortunately, the Braves team did not do as well as they wanted to at this tournament.  Coach Weatherwax chalks it up to the fact that “…we weren’t memorized.  We lost presentation points, but we learned a lot to make us better for district competition.”  Indian Hill High School took the first two spots in the tournament with their A and B teams while Reading High School won third and Perrysburg and Jefferson Local took fourth and fifth place.  

Team captain Kendall Cramer said she does Mock Trial because “the opportunity is really great.  The people are really fun to be around.  You really learn a lot, not just about legal stuff, but about public speaking and how the world works.”  

Talawanda High School Mock Trial will be sending two teams to the Butler County regional competition on the twentieth day of 2017.  Be there to cheer on your school as they take on teams Io and Hyperion at the Butler County Courthouse!

Talawanda’s participation in the Mock Hawk this year was funded by the Oxford Community Foundation through the Butler Co. Bar Foundation Fund.

Mock Trial members cross the street after the Mock Hawk.