|
(March
3, 2010 - Oklahoma City) Christian Heritage Academy in Del City defeated
Ada High School 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 Philadelphia
in May.
“This is Christian Heritage Academy’s fourth time to win the state
mock trial championship and they were last year’s defending champions,”
said Oklahoma Bar Association President Allen Smallwood of Tulsa.
“The academy’s team members were very polished in their oral argument
skills and demonstrated excellent analytical and reasoning abilities.
I have no doubt they will represent Oklahoma well at nationals.”
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
about cyber stalking, in which one student accuses another student’s
chat room postings and Internet threats of causing emotional distress
that affected academic performance, resulting in the loss of a scholarship.
This year’s winners of the best attorney awards were Ryan Morrisett
of Christian Heritage Academy and Jasmine Byatfar of Ada. Taylor Palmer
of Christian Heritage Academy and Chandler Teal of Ada 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.
This year’s winning mock trial team was coached by teacher Jerrid
Eischen and attorney coach Jennifer Miller. Returning for a third
year on the “Crusaders” team are Jarred Miller and Ryan Morrisett.
Second-year team members are Katie Ceyler, Karis Cherry, Kristin Copeland
and Maddison Williams. This is Stone Hendrickson’s first year on the
team. The academy had two teams in the competition.
Out of the 47 teams that began competing in January, the top finishers
are, in second place, Ada High School (White team); third, Clinton
High School (Gold team); fourth, Okarche High School; fifth, Jenks
High School (Blue team); sixth, Owasso High School (Rams team); seventh,
Ada High School (Maroon team); and eighth, Jenks High School (Red
team).
Judge Edward Cunningham served as presiding judge during the contest
finals. Scoring judges were Judge Daman Cantrell, Judge Kenneth Dickerson,
Judge David B. Lewis, Judge Dana L. Rasure and Judge Jaquita Napoli.
More than 400 judges and attorneys volunteered their time to work
with mock trial teams as coaches and to conduct the competitions.
Erin Moore, an Oklahoma City attorney with Helms & Underwood,
chaired the Young Lawyers Division Mock Trial Committee.
The 16,000-member Oklahoma Bar Association, headquartered in Oklahoma
City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration
of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence,
public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma’s legal
community. |
