A plant developing a hydrogen-powered vehicle about to revolutionize the world burns to the ground. An employee with a history of setting fires was found at the scene, injured by the flames.
That’s the scenario students from Abington Heights High School and North Pocono High School battled over in the district championship of the 2017 Pennsylvania Statewide Mock Trial Competition on Wednesday night at the federal courthouse in Scranton.
Jenna Schmidt, a student at North Pocono, gave a forceful opening statement to the jury and a courtroom filled with about 100 observers.
“At the end of this trial, there will be no doubt in your minds that (the defendant) started that fire and committed the crime of arson,” Jenna argued.
Calling three witnesses, the prosecution tried to paint the defendant, played by Abington Heights freshman Nina Sampogne, as a serial arsonist. The prosecution team, which included Madison Youshock and Mark Caputo, heavily emphasizing two fires she started as a child, burning down a dog house with the family’s pet inside, as well as her own home.
The defense team, consisting of Abington Heights students Thomas Yocum, Clare Della Valle and Neel Mehta, fired back, stressing their client had no motive to destroy her employer’s plant. They also argued she was a changed person, having completed a rehabilitation program during her stint in prison and that she worked her way up within the car company.
“Ask yourself, how many of you were the same person you were 10 years ago?” Thomas, a senior, asked the jury in his closing statement.
“I hope (the defendant) could one day escape scrutiny for her past,” he continued. “For if we can’t believe, despite all of this, one cannot change, it is a dark day for humanity.”
After a brief deliberation, the jury of local attorneys and volunteers acquitted the defendant, handing the victory to Abington Heights.
U.S. 3rd Circuit Court Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie, who sits on a federal appeals court one level below the U.S. Supreme Court, oversaw the case. While the courtroom waited for the jury to reach a verdict, he led a round of applause for the students and complimented them for keeping their composure in the intense atmosphere of trial.
Each team elected the best attorney and best witness from the other side. Thomas and Jenna were named best attorneys and Matthew Smith of North Pocono and Eli Caminero of Abington Heights best witnesses.
The team from Abington Heights High School will now compete in the regional finals in Stroudsburg on March 9.
Contact the writer:
pcameron@timesshamrock.com, @pcameronTT on Twitter