The Oklahoma Bar Journal April 2023

O WASSO HIGH SCHOOL’S Team Elle edged out Jenks High School’s Team Justice for All to claim the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Championship. Owasso High School has won the state cham pionship five of the last six years. The Mock Trial program, now in its 43rd year, involves teams of students portraying attorneys and defendants in a courtroom setting, with judges and attorneys evaluating their performance. The final round of competition was held Tuesday, March 7, at the Page Belcher Federal Building in Tulsa. The case the two teams argued was a fictional criminal trial in which drivers in Wheatville, Oklahoma, were terrorized for months by “The Freeway Menace,” who threw objects and shot at passing vehicles. After being arrested due to a tip from a witness, they admitted to 26 incidents of throwing objects or shooting at cars and faced multiple charges. The primary issue in this case was that the defendant, who had been previously diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, had raised an insanity defense to their charges. “The Mock Trial competition has grown and now appeals to high school students who are interested in drama, debate, public speaking, art and journalism,” OBA Mock Trial Committee Chair Jennifer Bruner Soltani said. “This competition gives

The Jenks team was coached by attorneys Jacob Downs, Michael Horn, Morgan Medders, Stacy Accord and Jenny Proehl-Day and teachers Michael Horn, Danielle Henry and Dana Mackay. Team members were Cora Brown, Leah Brown, Alyssa Engle, Ann Gao, Elaine Gao, Satchel Grider, Sara Moreno, Samuel Meyers, Jacob Shaddock, Kimhoi Thang and Molly Thomas. Other top finishers were: 3rd Place – Jenks High School’s Team Clones 4th Place – The Academy of Classical Christian Studies, Oklahoma City 5th Place – Moore High School’s Team Varsity 6th Place – Ada High School’s Team Varsity 7th Place – Owasso High School’s Team Enrique 8th Place – Jenks High School’s Team Mandalorians Earning awards as best attor neys were Elaine Gao and Alyson Bushey, with Jacob Shaddock and Lauren Hughes winning best wit ness honors. Tru West, with Broken Arrow High School, won the best courtroom artist award, and Clinton High School’s Emily Stephens won the courtroom journalist award.

students a unique opportunity to develop public speaking, presenta tion and critical thinking skills in a trial format but also offers court room artist and journalist compo nents. The experience is one of a kind for students, teachers and legal community volunteers.” COACHES AND TEAM MEMBERS The Owasso team was coached by Judge Daman Cantrell, attorney coaches Kaylind Baker and Ken Underwood, and teachers Terry Waller and Krya Schmidt. Team members were Parker Baskerville, Ava Brigman, Alyson Bushey, Lauren Hughes, Katelyn Wiehe and Anakin Wyrick. The courtroom artist competition continued to thrive in its fourth year. The winning entry came from Tru West with Broken Arrow High School.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL