Tammy Brookins
Contributor
Middle school students from the Jefferson County Homeschool Association, Inc. (JCHAI) faced off in a mock trial competition against middle school students from Leon County’s Libertas Academic Cooperative on March 22, at the Jefferson County Courthouse Annex. The case argued was Sidney Curie v. Petzicon Products, Inc., a civil product liability case. For several months prior to the competition, the students met weekly at the JCHAI Resource Center to study the complex case.
The case involved the death of Sidney Curie’s beloved award-winning dog. Ms. Curie alleged that her pup’s death was due to poisoning by flea control products made by the defendant, Petzicon. The entire case was tried twice in front of a mock judge and jury. Jefferson County Homeschool Association students role-played the defense in the first round and the plaintiff in the second round. Each team was comprised of several student attorneys and three student witnesses. Expert witnesses played by the students included a veterinarian, accountant and engineer. Several Jefferson County students had to act as both a witness and an attorney, which required considerable preparation time and memorization. Witnesses did not have notes, but had to answer all questions posed to them strictly by memory.
Each team won one round of the trial. The JCHAI team had the highest overall score and won the Mock Trial Competition. The Jefferson County mock trial team was led by Monica Freeland, an attorney at Messer Caparello, PA. She was assisted by Manda Payne. The team is appreciative to Floyd Faglie, Esq. of Staunton & Faglie, PL, for playing the role of the judge for the fourth year in a row. The team is also grateful to the volunteer jurors and to the Jefferson County Commissioners for graciously allowing the use of the Courthouse Annex.
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