Tinian High School, which has won the local title five times, finished second.
Also competing in the two-day 22nd Annual CNMI Mock Trial at the federal courthouse were Kagman High School, Saipan International School, Grace Christian Academy, and eight-time champion Mount Carmel School.
MHS team member and senior student Shea Hartig, in an interview, said: “It feels really good to go out on a high note. This is my seventh year doing this and it’s my last year.”
Hartig said she and the rest of the MHS team are excited to again represent the CNMI in national championship, “but we know that along with this excitement comes a lot of hard work.”
The Marianas High School Concert Band won gold and was named one of the command performance groups — one of the highest honors at the Tumon Bay Music Festival. In photo are band director Atsuko Eck, center, foreground, and adjudicator Atsushi Yamashita, third left, with the band members. Contributed photo
She added, “We’re prepared to be very dedicated to ensure that we do our best to represent the CNMI at the nationals.”
Based on her experience last year, Hartig said the national championship tends to be very technical. “So, we’ll have to adjust our strategy. But I also think that our nerves will just be not as bad as they were last year as we know more what to expect and to prepare for.”
The other members of the MHS team are One An, Maria Bonto, Mylan Goodwin, Conall Hartig, Jerawn Joyner, Christina Kim, Vivien Liu, Jigger Parayaoan, Anastacia Shamanaeva, Amy Rayn Soliman, and Jonathan Wolf.
Their teacher coach is Donald Cohen and their attorney coaches are Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig, Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy, and Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock.
Tinian High School’s Tasi Long, who was named the best prosecution attorney in the CNMI competition, commended all his teammates for putting up a good “fight.”
The Tinian High School Mock Trial team with their coaches: attorneys Kimberlyn King-Hinds and Chester Hinds. Photo by Bryan Manabat
“Mock trial is a team sport — 2nd place should motivate us to come back even stronger,” Long added.
A junior at THS, Long said they will work more on “grasping evidence, textual knowledge of the rules, and case laws.”
This year’s fictitious case — “Gabriel Johnson Torres vs. Department of Public Safety” — involved an excessive force claim by a police officer against a minor.
The mock trial program is sponsored by the CNMI judiciary, the CNMI Public School System, the CNMI Bar Association, and the Northern Marianas Judiciary Historical Society.
The Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation also provided funding for the local competition.
