by Reica Ramirez for Mount Carmel School’s Introduction Media Communications Course
On January 26, 2019, Mount Carmel School held its first Mock Trial Invitational Competition. Marianas High School’s Junior Varsity team competed twice against Mount Carmel School’s JV Mock Trial team in two rounds presided over by Honorable Judge Joseph Camacho.
Judge Camacho enjoyed the idea of having invitational competitions outside of the regular annual competitions. He said “This invitational is a great opportunity for students to experience Mock Trial without so much at stake. It allows the students to understand clearly the role of the court, the attorneys, and witnesses before going into the actual competition.” Camacho added, “I’ve always been a big supporter of Mock Trial, and I am more than happy to help in, hopefully, more invitationals to come!”
The MHS students also had a great experience competing against MCS in a positive, fun environment. Jarwyn (last name), MHS freshmen, said, “[The invitational] was fun because it didn’t feel like a competition.”
Another freshman, Vivien Liu added that it wasn’t a competition but “a chance to learn more about mock trial and apply what I’ve learned for future competitions.”
Similar to what Judge Camacho said, the students agreed that invitational competitions should be held more often to help students become comfortable with mock trial competitions. One member of the MHS team, Juliet Innocencio, stated that “the Invitational Competition today was very welcoming and it wasn’t so stressful as it would have been in actual competitions. I think we should do more of these so that students like me can experience mock trial without so much at stake.”
Overall, both teams had a great experience to learn more about mock trial and apply the skills that they learned to improve. The Invitational Competition gave students a chance to have a friendly competition as well as welcoming other students into the mock trial world.
School president and teacher coach for MCS, Galvin Deleon Guerrero, said that the school is committed to holding the invitational again next school year. “This was a great experience that emphasized the learning aspect of mock trial and promoted a growth mindset among our students, so we definitely will do this again.”
The case used for the invitational was the 2018 CNMI Mock Trial Case, CNMI vs. Lou Perez, which dealt with criminal charges filed against a Lou Perez, a legal proprietor of medical marijuana, who shot and injured an officer during a raid on his home. The school decided to use that case since many current mock trial competitors are familiar with the case because of their work on it last year. Also, the competition used the CNMI Mock Trial Competition Rules and the National High School Mock Trial Competition Federal Rules of Evidence.
