HAMPDEN, Maine — The Hampden Academy Mock Trial Team won the Maine State High School Mock Trial Championship after a two-trial competition against Lewiston High School on Dec. 9 in the Supreme Judicial Courtroom at Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland.
Maine Supreme Court Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley presided, with University of Maine School of Law Dean Peter Pitegoff and lawyer Terrance Duddy of the Portland-based Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman law firm serving as evaluators.
The win marked Hampden Academy’s sixth consecutive Maine State High School Mock Trial Championship and its eighth in the past nine years.
The winning team will be invited to prepare a new case beginning March 31 to represent the state of Maine at the National High School Mock Trial Championship scheduled for May 6-10 in Atlanta.
Twenty-two teams from around the state began preparing the fictional case on Sept. 1. Since that time, four preliminary rounds have been held in state and federal courtrooms in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Hancock, Kennebec and Penobscot counties.
Lewiston High School defeated Kennebunk High School, Gray-New Gloucester High School, Sanford High School and Cape Elizabeth High School on its way to the state final match.
Hampden Academy defeated Waterville High School, Bucksport High School, Brewer High School and Bonny Eagle High School in its preliminary matches.
This year’s competition was based on a hypothetical lawsuit brought by a high school student who had been prohibited from running for student council president on a campaign based upon the student’s religious beliefs.
The student then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine seeking an order prohibiting the school from holding the elections without the student being allowed to participate.
The case provided an opportunity for students to learn about constitutional law and the often-difficult relationship between the right to free speech and the prohibition against state-sponsored religion.
Students portrayed both attorneys and witnesses, conducting opening statements, closing arguments, direct and cross examinations, as well as evidentiary objections. The trial was conducted twice during the state finals, with each school having an opportunity to present both the plaintiff’s case and the defendant’s case.
Hampden Academy team members are Ryan Asalone, Sarah Coston, Elena Cravens, Jennifer Dixon, Victoria Gower, Jason Hamilton, Heidi Harrison, Michaela Hoffman, Zach Malloy, Brad Melanson, Evan Piccarillo, James Sargent, Savannah Sargent, Jack Swalec and Emily Tarbell-Reynolds.
Kathryn King is the team’s teacher coach. Attorney coaches are Bill Devoe of the law firm Eaton Peabody in Bangor and Jim McCarthy, an assistant U.S. attorney in Bangor.
Lewiston High School team members are Anna Smedley, Ryan Dubois, Athena Andoniades, Matthew Beauparlant, Kelsey Cote, Carly Yeung, Courtney Vallee, Michael Butler, Tyler Lussier, Conroy LeBlond, Nimal Eames-Scott, David Carvalho, Elsje Schipper and Mame Bonsu. Michelle Crowley is the team’s teacher coach. Attorney coach is Jodi L. Nofsinger of the law firm of Berman & Simmons of Lewiston.
The Maine high school mock trial program, which began in 1992, is sponsored by the Maine Bar Association with support from the Maine Bar Foundation. It is directed by Portland lawyer Julie A. Finn. Volunteer judges and attorneys provided the judging and evaluating in all 26 matches during the season. Volunteer attorneys assisted Finn in providing pre-season training.