Mock Trial Goes to Court in First Competition of Season

by Talia Herbst, SSLI '25

Yesterday, the mock trial team competed their first trial of the year at the Nassau County Courthouse. They brought home a win for the prosecution side against Mineola High School. Next week, on Tuesday, the defense side will be competing against Roslyn for Round II.

The case this year involved Lindsay Gordon, the owner of Gordon Paint & Supplies. Lindsay was arrested on the charge of arson for setting their business on fire. The prosecution proved Lindsay Gordon was the one who set the business on fire. Next week, the defense hopes to prove that Lindsay Gordon could not have set their business on fire.

The team was proud of their first win. (J. Pravato)

This year, many members took on new roles for the first time. It was junior Addison Pravato’s first time as an attorney and on the team. It was no easy feat, and she stated that "for this being my first time, I was very proud of myself." A slight challenge for her was objecting because she was unsure when exactly to object. She stated that her co-console, "Micah Bidner stepped in and objected when needed."

Ms. Delaire, the advisor of the club, expressed that she “was very pleased with [the team's] performance.” She explained "Some of our witnesses had never even seen a mock trial in action before last night, and they were amazing!" Sophomore and attorney Aviva Wolf stated, “Our team did amazing; the witnesses were articulate and very prepared, along with my co-lawyers."

Shir Levenson, a first-year member of Mock Trial, played Pat Wheeler, an ex-employee of the building that burned down. She explained "I knew what the goal was, so I could say what I wanted to say. Overall, I am very proud of the team. I feel like we did a really great job; everyone knew their parts really well." 

Wolf admitted that for her, the hardest part of the trial was "trying to stay calm" during the direct and cross examinations. Levenson commented, “The lawyers did an amazing job, and all the witnesses proved to know their information, which I think is what made us win because we fought for our team.”

Delaire concluded, “I'm thrilled that we won, but we can't rest on our laurels for too long because we have to finish preparing our defense for next Tuesday's competition.”

Talia Herbst is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2021. Talia is currently a junior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: therbst25@schechterli.org.