Credit to Kasey Lewis

Mock Trial members discuss the events of the night’s practice trial while preparing for the preliminary competitions.

North’s State Champion defending mock trial team competed in their first trial of the year yesterday, Jan. 14, and will compete again tomorrow, Jan 16. Members of mock trial have much to do to prepare.

The case the team will be debating this time around is the murder of Julius Jones, a mock trial coach. His rival schools coach has been charged with said murder.

“The case is over the murder of Julius Jones, who is a mock trial coach for a high school team,” senior Sophia Arnold said. “The head coach from their rival school was charged with the murder.”

Members must practice memorizing their lines and points they’ll use but there are tricks some use to memorize said lines.

“First, just repeating over and over our different lines and stuff and second to practice right before you go to bed, because psychologically speaking when you prepare right before you go to bed you’re more likely to remember them over a good span of time,” junior Daiyan Hassan said.

There are two roles that each person may take on during the trial, witness or laywer. Witnesses must learn how to best embody the character they take on, and lawyers must learn how to best defend their client.

“For witnesses, they study their depositions and learn all about the character they are taking on,” Arnold said. “If you are a lawyer, you have to know the depositions of both the person you are directing and crossing, we also have an opener and closer who essentially have a speech to give at the beginning and the end to open and wrap up the trial.”