Charger News

CHS legal eagles head for state

Spud Flatt, Charger Staff

Affidavits and court orders, indictments and gavels are all an important part of our court systems in the United States of America.

This may be true, but the most important factor in running the law is the performances of the lawyers and judges in the system.

Now that court order has become such a major part of American life, many programs have been set up in order to see that high school students get acquainted with the law. A major way in teaching students law is through mock trials.

Many schools in Tennessee compete in mock trials. Mock trial teams have twelve participants-- three defense attorneys, three prosecuting attorneys, five witnesses, and one defendant. The cases are real cases that have been heard in the state, but names have been changed in order to protect the innocent. Real judges preside in each case, so the court is very much like the real thing.

The state competition is held at the Davidson County Courthouse. Nineteen teams compete at the state competition, and each team has the same trial.

Each team gets the case in November of each year and has five months to prepare.

Each unit clashes with one another as if they were in the courtroom of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

The speech team at Cookeville High School is a powerhouse in competitive mock trials in the state. Headed by Kathy Ligon, the speech team is in its twelfth year here at our school.

Mock trials are a major part of their competition throughout the year. The team has won the region six times, this year defeating Warren County.

Craig Fickling, a local attorney, is the team’s legal coach. He spends much time with the debaters as they prepare for competition.

This year’s team has represented CHS very well, winning the region and going to state competition. Ligon says, “We had the strongest team we’ve ever had. The major factor in our success is our competition on a regular basis, which has given us much more experience.”

The CHS mock trial team is made up of Spencer Huddleston, Jessie Holloway, and Holly Lane as the prosecuting attorneys, representing Eric Walker. The defendants are Jason Hicks, Suman Natarajan, and Hillary Taylor.

Andrea Fleetwood, Romy Axelgard, Natalie Winningham, Rachael Crook, and Michael Dailey make up the key witnesses for each side of the case.

The team managed a 2:2 record in the state trial. Look for next years team to go further in the state competition.