High School Students Advance to Regional Mock Trial Competition
On January 18, 2019 more than 3,000 High School students entered courtrooms across the state to take part in the Ohio Center for Law Related Education’s (OCLRE) 36th Annual Ohio Mock Trial Competition
The Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas and Juvenile Court have sponsored Coshocton county teams for the past 5 years. District Competition for the local teams was held at the Licking County Courthouse, where Coshocton Scarlet and Coshocton Gray faced competition from Zanesville High School, Granville High School, Northridge High School and Zanesville Rosecrans, with 8 teams competing.
After a grueling day of students assuming roles as witnesses and attorneys to present both sides of an original, unscripted case based on a constitutional issue, the Coshocton Scarlet Team scored well enough to advance to Regional Competition on February 15. This is 3rd Coshocton county team in 5 years of competition to advance to the Regionals.
Jenna Stonebraker and Kevin Lobo were voted Best Attorneys for their role in the case while Evelyn Hire, Jenna Renalli and Will Fortube were voted best witnesses.
The 2019 Ohio Mock Trial case focuses on Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures as it applies to technology. Fictional defendant Quinn Woolf is charged with aggravated theft and telecommunications fraud for allegedly using a private, alphanumeric code to steal $120 million from the state pension fund. The catch is, the state used an aerial drone to obtain images of the defendant in the Woolf’s backyard.
Team Participants included:
SCARLET: Gage Haines, Jenna Renalli, Jenna Stonebraker, Kaitlyn Richard ,Rachel Simpson, Justin Conner, Ka’Leah Kreis and Evelyn Hire.
GRAY: William Fortune, Judah Nelson, Javin Robinson, Kevin Lobo, Tyler Nicely, Jack Sorrell, Lilly Whitcomb, and Caleb Shriver.
Coaches and Advisors for the Coshocton County Teams were:
Judge Robert Batchelor, Judge Van Blanchard, Prosecutor Jason Given, and Assistant Prosecutor Christie Thornsley.