Jefferson Mock Trial Team wins its case

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Students from the Jefferson County Homeschool Association faced off in a mock trial against students from the Libertas Academic Cooperative in Leon County on March 30 at the Jefferson County Courthouse Annex to argue the manslaughter case of The State of Florida v. Allyn Funt. Both teams had spent many weeks preparing for the role-play event in order to learn about trial process and increase their understanding of the legal system, the role of juries and the administration of justice.
They studied an 81-page packet of case materials provided by the Justice Teaching Center at Florida Southern College, which included a Case Summary, the Statement of Charge, Plea, Witness Statements, Exhibits and the Florida Mock Trial Simplified Rules of Evidence. The fabricated case seems well designed to engage its middle school age audience, with a suspicious death involving a prop elevator on the set of the Fear Springs Eternal reality show, following the filming of the “Zombie Chase” episode.
The Jefferson Mock Trial Team role-played the defense of the character Allyn Funt, who had entered a plea of not guilty to the crime of manslaughter. This placed the burden on the Libertas Mock Trial Team, in their role as the prosecution, to prove Funt's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Then the teams traded places and showed their ability to argue from the opposing perspective.
Students on the Jefferson Mock Trial Team included Paisley Crosby, Finley Crosby, Noah Parker, Tessia Brookins, Allie Dollar, Crickett Lee and Vera Peters. Their teachers, Monical Freeland and Michelle Dollar, held weekly 45-minute classes for six weeks to guide the students in studying the case, learning legal terminology, building their skills for reading technical and medical diagrams and, of course, practicing their roles.
Monticello attorney Floyd Faglie played the role of the judge in the case, and jurors were played by local residents Larry Wallace, Merry Ann Frisby, Kristy Lehman and Eric Henderson.
The Libertas Mock Trial Team, taught by Betty Johnson, included Charis Altrogge, Norah Bodoh, Ellie Connell, Joseph Hall, Jenny Heimbach, Savannah McDonald, Camden Philley, Adeline Smith, Blaise Voran and Zeke Voran.
Tammy Brookins of the Jefferson County Homeschool Association said, “This is our second year holding the Homeschool Middle School Mock Trial competition. The Jefferson team came away with the victory, narrowly beating the formidable Leon team. All the competitors wish to thank the clerk of courts and the county commissioners for allowing us to compete in the annex.”
After the mock trial, “Judge” Faglie commented, “Both the Jefferson and Tallahassee teams presented their cases in an outstanding manner. Both teams were well prepared and had perfect presentations. Serving as the presiding trial judge was an honor. The most difficult part was not complementing each participant after their presentation, because each student demonstrated hard work and preparation. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful youth in our community.”
Following their morning of dramatic learning, the mock trial participants and their families were treated to lunch, provided by Staunton & Faglie, PL, and hosted by First Baptist Church of Monticello, to acknowledge the hard work dedicated to this project.