MOCK TRIAL: Come Friday, the McKean County Courthouse will be harboring some suspiciously young lawyers.
That’s when local high school students will take the courtroom for the 2017 Statewide Mock Trial Competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.
Bradford attorney Dan Lang, who is the district coordinator this year, said the first round of local competition will be held Friday at the McKean County Courthouse, where the final rounds will take place Feb. 3.
“The winner will be announced at the end of the final trial, which should be around mid-day on Feb. 3,” Dan tells us.
The mock trials give high school students a glimpse of the complex process of criminal justice by giving them a chance to take part in a hypothetical criminal trial — this year about an arson fire that ravaged an advanced automotive plant, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
District 3 of Northcentral Region 4 includes the counties of Cameron, Elk, McKean and Potter. The seven schools participating are Coudersport, Galeton, Kane, Northern Potter, Oswayo Valley, Otto-Eldred and Smethport high schools.
“During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge,” the Pennsylvania Bar Association stated.“The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisors in preparing for competition.Lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials.”
The 14 winning times will participate in Statewide Mock Trial Championships March 24 and 25 in Harrisburg, and the state champion team will then go on to the national mock trial finals May 11-13 in Hartford, Conn.
