For the second time in three years, a team of students from Cuyahoga Heights High School (CHHS) competed in the state Mock Trial competition March 12-14 at the Franklin County Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio.
Mock Trial acquaints high school students with the law and how the United States legal system functions. Guided by teachers and volunteer legal advisors, students participate in a simulated trial focusing around a constitutional issue. Students argue the case in real courtrooms from both the plaintiff and defense perspectives while being scored by panels of lawyers and judges.
This year’s case, State of Buckeye v. Morgan Remy, involved a Fourth Amendment motion to suppress evidence in a 25-year-old cold case. The legal arguments center on the constitutional implications of law enforcement using genetic genealogy databases without a warrant. To succeed, students must demonstrate a mastery of case law and the ability to deliver extemporaneous arguments under pressure from presiding judges and opposing counsel. The CHHS Mock Trial Advisor is Social Studies Teacher Martin Kosovich with assistance from Senior Assistant Attorney General Andrew Gatti who served as legal advisor..
This year’s Mock Trial season included two invitationals and three rounds of competition. Their first foray into the season was in November at the Kent State University’s Black Squirrel Invitational. Bre Dougan was earned the Outstanding Witness award.
In early January, at the Wolf Den Invitational, which CHHS hosted, the following CHHS students won individual awards:
Outstanding Attorney:
Celia Suma and Adham Gharib
Outstanding Witness:
Saviana Taylor, Danny Cichocki, and Giada Amato
The first round (District Competition) was held on January 30 at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. CHHS’s three teams were among 36 teams from North Royalton, Beaumont, St. Ignatius, John Hay, Westside Christian, University School, and several other area high schools. CHHS’s three teams were composed of
Team A: Liz Gasper, Adham Gharib, Justin Liu, Avery Miller, Zhou Wei Ni, Christian Kummerlen, Celia Suma, and Saviana Taylor.
Team B: Giada Amato, Daniel Cichocki, Bre Dougan, Avram (Avi) Freidt, Emma Gasper, Hannah Jasany, Laila Lengyel, and Ana Ratkosky. This team was one of only 27 to emerge from an original pool of nearly 250 teams across the state that advanced to this year’s finals.
Team C: Ben Armbrust, Bella Diaz, Julia Havlin, Elijah (Eli) Lang, Olivia Passalacqua, and Sarah Weber
The Cuyahoga Heights teams shined at the first round of the official Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) contest. This round included about 250 teams around the state at various locations. Teams A and B advanced from the district meet to compete in the next level and nine students won individual awards. They were:
Outstanding Attorney:
A Team: Celia Suma and Zhou Wei Ni
B Team: Emma Gasper and Laila Lengyel
Outstanding Witness:
A Team: Celia Suma
B Team: Giada Amato and Daniel Cichocki
C Team: Olivia Passalacqua and Sarah Weber
The OCLRE Regional Competition took place on February 20. That day, 51 teams from around the state competed at various regional sites. Locally, Team A and B were among 16 teams competing at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse against teams from North Royalton, Solon, Padua Franciscan, University, and St. Edward.
“Team B emerged as the first CHHS team ever to finish undefeated with a unanimous sweep of all of the judges’ ballots,” said Kosovich. Winning individuals awards at this level of competition were the following:
Outstanding Attorney
Team Adham Gharib and Zhou Wei Ni, and Laila Lengyel
Outstanding Witness
Giada Amato
Team B went on to compete in March at the state Mock Trial competition. Though the team did not place, three students earned state-level honors.
Outstanding Attorney
Avram (Avi) Friedt
Outstanding Witness
Daniel Cichocki and Giada Amato
"Our many thanks to our Legal Advisor, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Andrew Gatti, who provided weekly guidance from September through March!," said Kosovich.