Students win in mock trial

BOSTON - Students from a South Hadley charter school on Friday won the state's mock trial championship, besting a team from Boston's top public high school.

The Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School, noted for its mock trial program, won the championship for the first time since 2005. The team lost in the finals last year and has often qualified for the finals in recent years.

"It feels pretty sweet," said Ian Fox, 18, a senior from Belchertown, who was a witness in the mock trial finals, held at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

"Everybody did a really, really good job," added Nathaniel Mathews, 17, a senior from Hadley who acted as an expert witness. "We had very good witnesses. Our lawyers were impeccable."

The Pioneer Valley high school, led by veteran coach Gary R. Huggett, of Greenfield, now advances to the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Phoenix, held May 4 to 8.

In Friday's event, students from the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School defeated a team from the historic Boston Latin School. It was a David versus Goliath type of contest since the Boston school has about six times the enrollment of the 400-student South Hadley school.

During the competition, students took on the roles of lawyers, witnesses and a defendant in a criminal trial in front of an actual judge - Norfolk Probate and Family Court Associate Justice John D. Casey. Several judges chose the winner by giving points for knowledge of the law, communication skills and ability to capture an audience.

In the three-hour matchup, the students from the South Hadley school represented a high school senior charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of two people in a car accident. The defendant, who was found innocent, was accused of removing a stop sign from an intersection as part of a school scavenger hunt. Boston Latin students were the prosecution.

Hannah Sokoloff-Rubin, 16, of Amherst, a junior who acted as a lawyer, said it was amazing to win the championship. "Winning is really fabulous," she said.

She said she enjoyed playing a lawyer because the profession combines theater, writing and thinking on the spot.

Graham Weston, 17, a senior from Hatfield, who gave the closing argument as a defense lawyer in Friday's contest, said the victory required a lot of work by the students.

Sam Farnsworth, 17, a junior from Belchertown, who acted as the defendant, said he was truthful and earnest during his testimony. "There was nothing to hide because I was innocent," he said.

The mock trial program is administered by the Massachusetts Bar Association, and made possible by the international law firm of Brown Rudnick through its Center for the Public Interest in Boston, which has contributed $25,000 each year since 1998.