Cab Calloway School of the Arts won the 27th annual Delaware High School Mock Trial Competition that was held on Feb. 23 and 24 at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington.
The team from Cab Calloway faced off against students from Sussex Central High School in one of the closest final rounds in the competition’s history.
Cab Calloway’s victory marks the first time that students from that school have taken the top prize in the Delaware competition. Students from Cab Calloway will now go on to represent Delaware in the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Reno, Nevada on May 10 – 12, 2018.
In all, 28 teams from public, private, parochial and charter schools throughout Delaware took part in this year’s two-day mock trial competition that involved more than 330 students, 35 teachers and 49 attorney advisors.
The annual statewide competition is sponsored by the Delaware Law Related Education Center (DELREC), and nearly 200 members of Delaware’s legal community and the Delaware Courts donated their time as judges, bailiffs and support staff for the competition.
Students on each team spent the two days arguing a simulated criminal case involving a theft of paintings from the Wilmington Library, presenting opening statements, closing arguments and questioning “witnesses.” Each team had to argue both sides of the case, meaning that if a team acted as the prosecution side in the first round, they had to act as the defense in the second round and vice-versa. In each round, students are judged on their knowledge of the law and ability to properly present their case. After four rounds, the two teams with the best scores faced each other in the final round.
Justice Gary F. Traynor of the Delaware Supreme Court presided over the final round this year, and the final round scoring judges for this year included U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, former Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady, Lisa Minutola, Esq., Mark Desgrosseilliers, Esq., William B. Larson, Esq., and Chris Johnson, Esq.
The other schools that finished in the top five places, in order, included Mount Pleasant High School, Archmere Academy and Padua Academy. Four students received ceremonial gavels for winning three or more awards during the first four rounds of the competition as either “best attorney,” “best witness,” or a combination of each, including: Rowan Reusing of Sussex Central High School, Mileena Jackson of Howard High School of Technology, Kennedy Crowder of Padua Academy and Ben Conner of Mount Pleasant High School. At the banquet following the competition, DELREC also presented its Award for Excellence as a Classroom LRE Teacher to Dr. Christine Schaub of Howard High School of Technology. Finally, students
Holly Williams of Sussex Central High School and Madison Larmore of Archmere Academy each received a scholarship award of $500 (provided by Anthony Iannini) for winning the Mock Trial Competition Essay Contest.
