The Mock Trial Club had its first competition of the year on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Stroudsburg High School and was sponsored by the Monroe County Bar Association.
The participating schools were Delaware Valley, East Stroudsburg South, Hazleton, MMI Preparatory School, North Pocono, Notre Dame, Palmerton Pocono Mountain East, and Pocono Mountain West.
SHS had two teams competing: Team A and Team B, and two different sections within them, Prosection and Defense.
Team A’s Prosecution: Kona Maronpot, ‘25, Layla Macedon, ‘26, and Sam Sroka, ‘25. Each was responsible for proving Legan Arabach, the defendant, as guilty of third-degree murder. Each member was responsible for a specific task in the process. Layla Macedon performed the opening statement and directed witnesses. Sam Sroka directed prosecution witnesses and crossed opposing witnesses. Kona Maronpot was responsible for the cross-examination of the defendant, isolating the evidence needed to prove him guilty and making the closing statement.
Witnesses for Team A’s Prosecution were played by Peter Leyba, ‘25, who played Zene Gaffney, a detective. Connor Potochnick, ‘25, played Shay Tinto, the supposed murder victim’s roommate.
Team A’s Defense: Mikaela Litpitz, ‘25, Ayanna Vidaic, ’26, and Claire O’Donnell, ’25. Claire O’Donnell wrote and read the opening statement. Ayanna Vidaic directed the defendant and crossed the opposing witnesses. Mikaela Litpitz directed witnesses and performed the closing statement. Team A’s Defense witnesses included Logan Potochnick’ 25, who played the defendant, Legan Arabach. Colton Leeth’ 25, played Rylan Satterfield, one of the supposed murder victim’s coworkers.
““The competition was a great way to ease our club into the year, since there is nothing like competing against other schools. Both of our teams did fantastic and I can’t wait to see what we do in the spring,” stated Kona Maronpot, ’25.
— Kona Maronpot
.sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 { display: flex; float: right; margin: 30px 0 30px 30px; width: 50%; border-color: #870000; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; background-color: #dddddd; } .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 p.quotespeaker { color: #000000 !important; } .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 .largequote { color: #870101; } .sno-pullquote-67537149837e1 .quotebody { width: unset; }The second SHS Mock Trial team also competed. Team B Prosecution had Duncan Casebolt, ’27, Nico Perini’ 25, and Julia Sauerman, ’27. Nico Perini crossed the opposing witnesses and composed and read the opening statement. Julia Saurman directed and crossed witnesses. Duncan Casebolt crossed the opposing witnesses and read the closing statement. Team B’s Prosecution witnesses included Nelly Kolokowski’ 26, who played Shay Tinto. And Jacob Patcher’ 27, who played Detective Zene Gaffney.
Team B Defense: Lile Bekaia, ’27, Hailey Abba, ’27, and Hailey Campo, ’27. Hailey Campo read the opening statement and crossed the opposing team’s witnesses. Hailey Abba directed and crossed witnesses. Lile Bekaia directed witnesses and read the closing statement. Team B’s Defense witnesses included Tristan Timones’ 27, who played Legan Arabach, and Nichole Ogwu’ 27, who played Rylan Satterfield.
Each team had its timekeepers responsible for monitoring time within the court proceedings. Team A’s timekeeper was Will Awuah’ 25, and Team B’s was Eshaal Sohail, ’27.
Team A’s Prosecution faced East Stroudsburg South and North Pocono B. To South, they lost 80-79, and to North Pocono B, it was a close call with a total of 62 points, but Pocono Mountain East took the victory with a total of 77 points.
Team A’s Defense argued against Delaware Valley and Pocono Mountain East. The score against Delaware Valley was 72-62, and against East it was 73-62.
Team B’s Prosecution faced off against Hazelton and lost with a score of 73-61.
Team B’s Defense argued against Delaware Valley and Pocono Mountain West. Against Delaware, their defense took the win with 66-43. Against Pocono Mountain West, however; SHS won 58-54. “I did great. With reading the affidavit over and over again, and the mock trials we did [in the past], I felt very confident and prepared with my role,” reflected Logan Potochnick, ‘25.
“This was the first time I ever hosted the tournament. I think it went really well. The students all seemed to enjoy the experience and I feel like a lot of learning happened. Our team did particularly well, winning several of our trials. I am very proud of the performances by the upperclassmen and the club has a great future with so many impressive sophomores joining this year.
— Adviser, Robert Wood
.sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 { display: flex; float: left; margin: 30px 30px 30px 0; width: 50%; border-color: #870101; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; background-color: #dddddd; } .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 p.quotespeaker { color: #000000 !important; } .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 .largequote { color: #870101; } .sno-pullquote-6753714983e76 .quotebody { width: unset; }Overall, this was a beneficial experience for the SHS Mock Trial team and an opportunity to improve for the upcoming competition in spring.