Mock Trial Sweeps States

In a mock courtroom at the University of New Hampshire Law School, senior Sam Farnsworth readied himself to deliver his opening statement. “If it’s you, I’m going to kill you,” he said, reciting a line from this year’s New Hampshire Mock Trial state case. With that, a heated trial between the Academy’s A and C Teams began. At the end of the trial, a panel of five jury members crowned A Team the state champions.

The Academy’s three Mock Trial teams conquered the New Hampshire State Tournament, receiving first, second and third place. A Team and C Team reached the finals, while B Team reached the semi-finals, losing against C. The tournament took place over three days, with round-robin style matches between eighteen schools from Feb. 8 to 9 and a finals match on Feb. 11.

During the tournament, uppers Ursie Wise and Felix Yeung were recognized as the top witnesses in the state, winning the title of Outstanding Witness. Additionally, Seniors Farnsworth and Audrey Vanderslice and upper Matthew Chen won Outstanding Attorney awards, honoring them as state’s best lawyers.

With the state championship under their belts, A Team will travel to Evansville, Indiana to compete in Mock Trial Nationals.

On Feb. 9, B Team took on C in what adviser Lori Dubois called a “remarkable trial.” C Team managed to gain the upper hand, winning by five points and earning them a spot in the final round against A Team. As Exeter’s teams are organized by experience, C Team’s victory took all by surprise.

“This was the first time in [Exeter] history this has happened,” Dubois said. “This was an exceptionally extraordinary year.”

Senior Thomas Wang, the leader of C Team, praised the team’s witnesses. “The gap between teams grew when C Team’s witnesses took the podium. Our witnesses prepared thoroughly, so they were able to handle prosecutions from B Team with calm and composure,” he said. “We won when the witnesses took the stage.”

Unlike many trials, Vankireddy noted the excitement of the semi-final trial. In a cross examination, Wang attempted to impeach lower witness Daniel Chen. D. Chen held strong to his argument, earning a perfect score of “10”. 

According to Vankireddy, Wang asked D. Chen to read a part of his affidavit, so D. Chen began reading his three page document from top to bottom in an attempt to take up Wang’s time. “They had everyone in the courtroom laughing,” Vankireddy said. Though D. Chen was an expert witness, whose performances are typically dry, “Daniel Chen’s character was particularly interesting and brought some excitement to the room.”

Farnsworth agreed with Vankireddy’s characterization of the cross examination. “Daniel absolutely demolished Thomas. It was humiliating. Truly unexpected talent—a once in a lifetime performance,” he said. “Maybe he should be co-head.”

In addition, the familiarity between the two teams allowed for some inside humor. D. Chen began his testimony by saying, “I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer.” As D. Chen competed as a lawyer last season, this remark drew laughs from the courtroom.

After C Team’s victory against B,  C went on to challenge Exeter’s A Team. Though A Team emerged victorious, C Team gave A Team a good fight.

Wang commended prep Tucker Gibbs’ evasion of lawyer Vanderslice’s questioning. “I want to applaud Tucker for what he’s accomplished. Audrey Vanderslice is a seasoned professional when it comes to Mock Trial,” he said. “When Audrey challenged Tucker, he stood his ground and remained calm. His performance was definitely a highlight.”

Senior and Mock Trial co-head Janalie Cobb had similar praise for C Team. “C Team performed extremely well and served as great competition throughout the trial. It was, without a doubt, impressive.”

In the end, the scores between the teams did not differ by a significant margin. “Mock Trial has more than one judge, and each judge scores individually. Together, the judges’ individual scores sum to a final score,” lower and C Team witness Teja Vankireddy said. “It doesn't really matter whether you argue the case better—every time someone speaks, the judges score based on a simple set of criteria. Despite A Team’s victory, both teams spoke with quality and poise.”

Dubois expressed her pride for Exeter’s successes, specifically a personal sacrifice that Wang made. “Thomas Wang made a personal decision at the beginning of the school year to step back from the opportunity of being on the A Team to coach the C team. This was a very admirable thing for him to do,” she said. “As an adviser, it was amazing to watch, and it humbled me to know that most of the credit for how the C team performed throughout the year was due to the leadership of Thomas Wang…Thomas put his heart and soul into working with these new students, teaching them the ropes of Mock Trial and how to be successful not only this year, but in their future years here.”

Wang believed that leading C Team was the best way to give back to the group. “I want to inspire future Exonians who participate in Mock Trial and develop a sense of community,” he said. “Fostering that sense of community is very worthwhile and fulfilling.”

Wang is grateful for the community Mock Trial has given him and seeks to foster the same community within newer members. “Because of the sheer amount of hours we spend together, Mock Trial is known for being very culty,” he said. “To a certain degree, this is true. Audrey Vanderslice, Sam Farnsworth and Janalie Cobb are my closest friends.”

Lower Michelle Park explained the importance of teamwork in the preparation process. “Mock Trial is more than an individual effort—it’s the combined effort of the entire team,” she said. 

However, Mock Trial entails more than long hours of work. “Whenever we meet, we order food and goof around for a bit, but we get the job done. I always look forward to going to a Mock Trial meeting just because of how much I love the people that I’m working with to prepare for tournaments,” Park added.

Cobb reflected on the significance of Exeter’s victory and noted her gratitude for seeing such success before she graduated. “The highlight is most definitely having our teams place first, second and third with five individual awards,” she said. “We absolutely swept the tournament this year, and it was wonderful for this season with this number of awards to cap off my Exeter Mock Trial career.”