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Christian Heritage Academy in Del City defeated Clinton High School (Gold team) in the final round of competition to claim the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Championship. Christian Heritage Academy will represent Oklahoma in the national competition, to be held in Phoenix in May.
Oklahoma Bar Association President Deborah Reheard of Eufaula said, "All of the teams have shown an understanding of the law and are getting a valuable lesson in how legal issues impact both individuals and businesses."
The final round of competition was held Tuesday evening in the Bell Courtroom at the OU Law Center in Norman. The two teams argued a case centered around a high school senior who filed a lawsuit against his school and its principal for violating two provisions of the First Amendment. The student was banned from running for office based on the religious content of his platform and campaign speech. The court granted a temporary restraining order stating that the elections cannot take place until the conclusion of a full evidentiary hearing and a ruling on the merits of a permanent injunction.
This year's winners of the best attorney awards were Ryan Morrisett of Christian Heritage Academy and Chase Maxwell of Clinton. Katie Ceyler of Christian Heritage Academy and Donticia Banks of Clinton were chosen as the best witnesses.
The annual competition is sponsored by the OBA Young Lawyers Division and the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Teams are paired with volunteer attorney coaches.
The judges evaluated the students based on their familiarity of the case and the formulation of their arguments. Students received points for each phase of the trial, opening, direct and cross examination, closing argument and how well their witnesses responded.
Out of the 36 teams across the state that began competing in January, the top finishers are, in second place, Clinton High School (Gold team); third, Ada High School (Maroon team); fourth, Ada High School (White team); fifth, Okarche High School; sixth, Jenks High School (Athena team); seventh, Owasso High School (Red team); and eighth, Owasso High School (Rams team).
Retired Judge Edward Cunningham served as presiding judge during the contest finals. Scoring judges were Judge Kenneth Dickerson, Judge David B. Lewis, Judge Jequita Napoli, Judge Dana L. Rasure and Judge Millie Otey.
Nicole Longwell, a Tulsa attorney with McDaniel, Longwell, Acord & Kroll PLLC, chaired the Young Lawyers Division Mock Trial Committee.
Nearly 400 judges and attorneys volunteered their time to work with mock trial teams as coaches and to conduct the competitions.
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