Big Brother reaches SHS
January 22, 2012 10:34 pm | Filed Under: Clubs
NICOLE STREICHER, 11 and Stephanie Adamec, 11, conference with each other before beginning their trial. Each year, the Mock Trial team is given a new case that they must analyze and argue. This year, for the first time, they were challenged with a Motion to Suppress, in which both sides must argue whether the evidence submitted by the fictional Detective Peyton Thurber is submissible or not, using Supreme Court case law. “It’s a really tough case this year, but everyone is pulling through and exceeding expectations,” said Ritvik Vasudevan, 12. (Image Credit: Ana Barros)

Storm Jackson, Glenn, OH resident, did not see it coming.

Accused of stealing prescription medicine from open houses on evidence collected from the GPS data on his cellphone, Jackson’s attorneys have filed a motion to suppress on the grounds that this evidence violated the defendant’s 4th Amendment rights.

It is now up to the Mock Trial team to reach a conclusion: was the use of Jackson’s GPS location data an illegal search?

In reality, there is no Storm Jackson; he is only a character in the Mock Trial world. However, he does symbolize the millions of people whose cellphones are currently being tracked by their service providers without their knowledge.

In comparison to previous Mock Trial topics, this year’s does not call for a guilt-related verdict. Instead, the teams must debate on whether or not they should suppress the GPS-acquired evidence that the fictional Detective Peyton Thurber has acquired.

“This year’s case is great… because motions to suppress are pretty common but also very challenging,” said Stephanie Adamec, 11.

Another big difference between this year’s Mock Trial season and previous ones is the fact that, for the first time, SHS has three teams, as opposed to the usual two.

Each team is coached by one lawyer who makes sure that all aspects of the case have been analyzed and that each team member knows court proceedings.

With workshops on objections, hearsay, case law, and public speaking, the lawyers hope to achieve what they have never achieved before: reach State finals.

This year, the SHS Mock Trial team has already gone to one competition and one scrimmage.

On Sat., Jan. 7, the Aves team got a score of 3-1* and the Green and Gold teams got a 2-2 at the UC Competition.

“It was a really good learning experience,” said Ritesh Kashyap, 11.

As they near the District Competition at the Hamilton County Courthouse on Jan. 31, the teams have a lot to work on.

“We have hit a few bumps along the way, but I think once we get to the district competition we will be very well prepared,” said Adamec.

For more information on the Mock Trial team, visit the UC Mock Trial homepage.

* Mock Trial scoring is based on how many judges voted for or against a team. In this case, there were four judges total, thus the scores added up to four.