Kentucky Court of Justice
Montgomery County High School team wins 2012 Kentucky High School Mock Trial Tournament
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| The Montgomery County High School Mock Trial Team (Red Team) poses with its trophy and gavel after winning the 2012 state mock trial tournament March 18 at the Jefferson County Judicial Center in Louisville. The team’s teacher/coaches are Chip Manley (fourth from left) and Jon Mansfield (far right). Kentucky Senior Judge Marc I. Rosen (back) was the presiding judge in the championship round between the MCHS team and a duPont Manual High School team from Louisville. |
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- For the second consecutive year, a Montgomery County High School mock trial team has won the state title in the Kentucky High School Mock Trial Tournament. The MCHS Red Team from Mount Sterling squared off with the duPont Manual High School Red Team from Louisville for the championship March 18. The tournament took place March 16-18 at the Jefferson County Judicial Center in Louisville. The win qualifies the Montgomery County team to compete in the National High School Mock Trial Tournament that will take place May 3-6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Thirty-one teams representing 27 Kentucky high schools competed in the state tournament.
Students argued the case of Commonwealth v. Morgan Smith (1402KB-PDF) for the competition. In the fictional case, retired Robbinsville police officer Morgan Smith is on trial for the murder of Christy Rose, who was a dispatcher for the police department when Smith was an officer. District Judge Earl-Ray Neal, who serves Clark and Madison counties, wrote the competition case.
All of the teams participated in four rounds of competition and the two highest scoring teams, the MCHS Red Team and the duPont Red Team, moved on to the championship round. Schools with teams that ranked in the top 10 at the tournament are, by rank:
1. WINNER – Montgomery County High School (Red Team), Mount Sterling
2. RUNNER-UP – duPont Manual High School (Red Team), Louisville
3. Louisville Collegiate School, Louisville
4. Eastern High School, Louisville
5. Madison Central High School, Richmond
6. Saint Xavier High School, Louisville
7. Montgomery County High School (Blue Team), Mount Sterling
8. Dixie Heights High School, Fort Mitchell (First time participated in tournament)
9. Model Laboratory School, Richmond
10. Newport Central Catholic High School, Newport
Louisville was also represented by teams from Central High School, duPont Manual High School (Blue Team), Mercy Academy, Sacred Heart Academy and Western High School. Other teams that competed are from Boyd County High School in Ashland, Breckinridge County High School in Harned, Bullitt East High School in Mount Washington, Carlisle County High School in Bardwell, Carroll County High School in Carrollton, Hickman County High School in Clinton, Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Larry A. Ryle High School in Union, Madison Southern High School in Berea, Paducah Tilghman High School (two teams) in Paducah, Paul G. Blazer High School (two teams) in Ashland, Russell Independent High School in Russell, St. Mary High School from Paducah and Webster County High School in Dixon.
In addition to the three Madison County high schools in the tournament, Clark Moores Middle School from Richmond participated to make an even number of teams for the competition. Clark Moores is the 2011 and 2012 state middle school mock trial champion. Middle schools are not eligible for the national competition.
Approximately 400 students participated in the tournament.
“It’s always a thrill to watch the students bring the case to life during the annual competition,” said Patrick Yewell, executive officer of the Department of Family and Juvenile Services at the Administrative Office of the Courts. “This year’s case presented a familiar story with a tragic ending. Domestic violence is a major social problem in our state and nation. I appreciate Judge Neal for giving us this important case topic and the students for their efforts in arguing the case. I’m also thankful for our judges, attorneys and law students who volunteered their time to serve as tournament judges.”
During the tournament, each team is assigned the role of the prosecution and the defense at least once. Team members also portray other individuals in the case, such as witnesses. Teams argue the case with a different team in each of the competition rounds.
Judges score the teams in each round and the scores are totaled to determine the winner. The teams learn their scores after the last round of trials. Court of Appeals judges, circuit and district judges, attorneys and law students judge the competition.
Individual Awards
Team member Allie Maples from the Montgomery County Red Team was voted Outstanding Attorney in the championship round and duPont Red Team member Ellen Everett was voted Outstanding Witness. The presiding and scoring judges for the championship select one outstanding attorney and one outstanding witness from the championship round.
During the competition rounds leading up to the championship, the 31 participating teams chose members of their own teams to receive the Outstanding Attorney Award and the Outstanding Witness Award.
For the Montgomery County Red Team, Cole Tipton was the Outstanding Attorney and Teresa Robinson was the Outstanding Witness. duPont Manual’s Red Team selected Maggie Heine as its Outstanding Attorney and Cate Heine as its Outstanding Witness.
Marc I. Rosen Sportsmanship Award
Sacred Heart Academy from Louisville received the Marc I. Rosen Sportsmanship Award at the tournament. The mock trial teams vote for a team to receive this honor. The award is named for Senior Judge Marc I. Rosen in honor of his dedication to the Kentucky High School Mock Trial Tournament. Among his contributions, Judge Rosen has served for many years as a tournament judge, including presiding over the final round between the two championship contenders.
Tournament Judges
Kentucky judges who served as tournament judges are:
Court of Appeals Judge Denise G. Clayton
Anderson, Shelby and Spencer counties
District Court Judge Linda S. Armstrong
District Court Judge Donna G. Dutton
Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton and Hickman counties
Circuit Court Judge Timothy A. Langford
Bourbon, Scott and Woodford counties
District Court Judge Vanessa M. Dickson
Circuit Court Judge Paul F. Isaacs
Breckinridge, Grayson and Meade counties
Circuit Court Judge Bruce T. Butler
Bullitt County
District Court Judge Jennifer E. Porter
Calloway and Marshall counties
Circuit Court Judge Dennis R. Foust
Carroll, Grant and Owen counties
District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Chandler
District Court Judge Thomas M. Funk
Clark and Madison counties
Circuit Court Judge William G. Clouse Jr.
District Court Judge Earl-Ray Neal
Daviess County
District Court Judge Lisa P. Jones
Estill, Lee and Owsley counties
District Court Judge William “Bo” Leach
Fayette County
Circuit Court Judge James D. Ishmael Jr.
Franklin County
District Court Judge Chris Olds
Hardin County
Circuit Court Judge Kelly Mark Easton
Jefferson County
Circuit Court Judge Brian C. Edwards
Circuit Court Judge Irv Maze
Circuit Court Judge Mitch Perry
Family County Judge Jerry J. Bowles
Family Court Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald
Family Court Judge Paula Sherlock
Pulaski and Rockcastle counties
District Court Judge Kathryn G. Wood
Senior Judges
Senior Judge Judith K. Bartholomew
Senior Judge W. Thomas Lively
Senior Judge O. Reed Rhorer
Senior Judge Marc I. Rosen
Senior Judge Joan Stringer
Mock Trial Program
Since its inception in 1983, more than 12,000 students, 1,500 judges and 3,000 attorneys have taken part in the Kentucky Mock Trial program. It is one of the many law-related education programs the Kentucky Court of Justice offers for youth. The Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort administers the program.
The Administrative Office of the Courts is the operations arm for the state court system and supports the activities of nearly 3,300 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.