CHS Goes To Trial Monday, December 20, 2010 By Senior Alexis Smith Colton Hurley in his judge costume - Alexis Smith Advertising The scene is the Cameron High School library. The judge takes his seat and the trial begins. Mr. David Mayne’s Law and You class students take on new roles as defendants, prosecutors, witnesses, a judge, and jury in the mock trial that is held at the end of the semester. This project helps put the legal skills that the students have learned into practice. Mr. Mayne has been doing this project for about 6 years. “This is our culmination for the entire semester. We take all the skills, all the legal understanding, argument, and debate that we have been introducing them to throughout the semester, going over criminal law, legal proceedings, courtroom proceedings, and courtroom manners; it’s really very summative and gives them a chance to  review everything they have gone over,” said Mr. Mayne. Senior Kymberlee Eden has really enjoyed the class and couldn’t wait to play her part. “My role in this trial is as a witness who got shot at. I chose it because I thought that it would be an interesting role and it would be nice to feel what it’s like to be on the stand,” said Kymberlee. She has read through her part many times in order to memorize her story. “I can’t take my paper or other information up to the stand with me. I need to figure out what is key and memorize it. Otherwise my story would sound rehearsed,” she said. It’s nice to finish out the year with an enjoyable project. The student’s are generally given about two weeks to perfect their roles, and those with jury duty have a few alternate assignments covering a different area of law to turn in before the trial. ”I give them several days and specific guidelines so that they all know their stuff.The students love the mock trial. It’s a lot of fun. They get very excited anticipating it and picturing what it’s going to be like in their mind. Afterwards, when it’s all done while we are waiting for the jury to come back again with a verdict, they are all really excited and talking about what they should have said, what they did say, and what they liked and what they didn’t like,” said Mr. Mayne. Senior Lena Blackburn got the role of a prosecuting attorney. “It’s a lot of fun. It gets us out of other work and is really hands-on. We have to apply all the rules that we have learned. I want to be a lawyer, so this is good practice to figure out what not to do and what the legal thing to do is. It’s good for my future career,” said Lena. This is always one of the busiest times of the year for students. With all the stress of finals coming up it’s nice to have a class with enjoyable project to close the semester.

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