Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Mock Trial Team Chesco champs for third year
For the third consecutive year Devon Prep’s Mock Trial Team won the Chester County Championship at the County Justice Center in West Chester. Fifteen teams representing 14 high schools competed in the Chester County Mock Trial competition this year. Devon Prep’s Team advances to the regional competition at the Delaware County Courthouse in Media in mid-March.
Devon Prep’s Team, under the direction of Moderator Mr. George Sheehan, includes: Freshmen Aidan Curry of Broomall and Noah Wolter of Malvern, Sophomores Matthew Drauschak of Phoenixville, Kyle Kilroy of Phoenixville, and Matthew Mallon of Collingdale, Juniors Charles Hallinan of Lansdowne, Akul Naik of Phoenixville, and William Stevenson of Newtown Square, and Seniors Brian Long of Wayne, Riley McCarthy of Malvern, Daniel O’Connor of Broomall and Joseph Petrucci of Wynnewood.
Three Devon Prep students were also presented with awards after the competition. Juniors Akul Naik and Liam Stevenson received awards for Best Witness and Senior Daniel O’Connor and Sophomore Matthew Drauschak received awards for Best Lawyer.
Needless to say Sheehan is pleased with the Team’s accomplishment. “After winning the first trial, we lost the coin flip for the second,” he explained. “Our Prosecution team then had to compete in back to back trials, but the boys would not be deterred. I’m very proud of this team and how hard they have worked. I’m particularly proud of how our underclassmen, Matt Drauschak, Kyle Kilroy, and rookie freshman Noah Wolter, have performed.”
More than 300 teams from 269 high schools across Pennsylvania compete in the district and regional levels of the Statewide Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Pennsylvania’s mock trial program, now in its 34th year, is one of the largest in the nation.
During the competition student teams argue both sides of a hypothetical case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants, while lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams’ abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments, and follow court rules.
This year’s case, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Taylor Edsel, is a criminal case to determine whether the defendant is guilty of committing arson when an advanced automotive plant burned in Wisawe, Pennsylvania.