The team members, which included Jeremiah Perez, Zelena Palijo, Hiromasa Kawahara, Rachel Masga, Reina Perez and Francis Fidelino, had 10 days to prepare for the competition.
They were coached by Scott and Marilee Norman. Kelly Butcher, legal counsel for the Public School System, also helped the students prepare for the competition.
The students were assigned parts for their assigned cases, and they had to be attorneys and witnesses.
They read and studied the case assigned to them before the competition.
The students are in Scott Norman’s government class and were learning about the judicial branch when the school received the invitation to join the competition.
On the first night of the competition, the girls acted as prosecutors and the boys were the witnesses. On the following day, the boys were defense attorneys and the girls were witnesses.
Jeremiah Perez, a senior student, didn’t expect that they would win a prize.
“We just reviewed over the case and try practicing each other’s parts. We were rushed everyday — it was a new deadline each day for the case,”
He added, “Each group was a team with their own witnesses. like a real court case. We expected to do our best but we didn’t expect to do really well because we had only 10 days to prepare and it’s our first time to compete.”
Hiromasa Kawahara, a junior student, enjoyed being a defense attorney.
“It’s fun and challenging. We need to listen to everything our opposing team says. We need to listen to everything our own witnesses say. We need to stay sharp,” he said
Reina Perez, a junior student, was a prosecution attorney and a defense witness.
She said she likes being a witness more than being an attorney
“Being a witness I think was easier than being the prosecuting attorney. You knew your character and you knew the questions they’d ask. As long as they don’t make you stumble, you’ll do fine,” she said.
She sees herself going to law school in the future.
“The whole experience was enjoyable after the nervousness went away,” she added.
Zelena Palijo, a junior student, was one of the lead attorneys.
“I was really nervous. I kind of cracked under pressure. I was the prosecution attorney and I had to go first. I learned a lot of things but mostly I learned how to remain calm and if you do remain calm everything will come to you and you will think on your feet,” she said.
Rachel Masga, a junior student, was the last person to ask questions as prosecution attorney during the mock Trial.
“We had to make questions for cross-examination to prove that the person was guilty. I was the last person to ask questions so once I got there I gave it my all,” she said.
Francis Fidelino, a sophomore student, said he worked hard before the competition.
“It was a lot of hard work. Almost every single day we had to practice. It was tough. I was just doing what I could. I was really nervous but I learned a lot. I learned the importance of hard work, diligence team work and responsibility, he said.
The students are now looking forward to join the CNMI mock trial competition next year.
