High-schoolers project professional aura in the court during mock trial

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

So how did high-school students participating in a mock-trial competition Friday at the Trumbull County Courthouse stack up against the real thing?

“They were very well prepared, better than most attorneys,” Mike Buzulencia, a Warren attorney, said of the students from Hubbard and Struthers who took part in the mock trial he judged.

In addition, the student attorneys showed a great deal of poise under the circumstances, standing directly in front of the three-judge panel, making good eye contact and using notes sparingly, Buzulencia said.

Sean O’Brien, a state representative and former assistant Trumbull County prosecutor from Brookfield, agrees, saying he was especially impressed with some students who served as witnesses.

“One witness recited the complete language of a contract word for word,” O’Brien said.

On the other hand, the law requires knowledge about complicated procedures. And after years of practice, some attorneys develop a presentation style that looks effortless, Buzulencia said.

Naturally, most of the student attorneys and witnesses didn’t have the experience that most attorneys have to improvise.

“You could tell they were nervous, some of them talking fast, which I myself do,” Buzulencia said.

In the third-floor courtroom of Magistrate Tony Cornicelli, students became more relaxed as their hour-long mock trial unfolded.

“After a while, they became more animated and focused less on the information and more on style,” Buzulencia said. He added that some of the most successful professional attorneys “appear to be making things up as they go along.”

Atty. Doug Ross of Howland, serving as a judge, told the Hubbard and Struthers students after their trial:

“It always surprises me how much like lawyers you all look. I’m still nervous when I step before a jury, and you didn’t look nervous.”

Atty. Cherry Poteet of Howland suggested a little trick that helps her keep from speaking too fast: “Breathe at the end of each sentence.”

Students from Hubbard, Newton Falls, Warren John F. Kennedy, LaBrae and Struthers high schools participated in Friday’s competition, sponsored by the Trumbull County Bar Association and Ohio Center for Law-Related Education.

Tabitha DiBacco of Hubbard, serving as attorney for make-believe defendant Storm Jackson, a high- school student accused of stealing prescription drugs, didn’t have any trouble improvising.

At the end of testimony for the final witness, Buzulencia, serving as the trial judge, invited the attorneys to make their closing arguments, but he had forgotten something.

“May the witness be excused?” DiBacco asked the judge, nodding toward the witness.

“Yes, of course,” Buzulencia said.

DiBacco said she’s leaning toward psychology as a major in college but thinks the competition teaches valuable lessons everyone can use.

“I enjoy the whole aspect of learning the law. It helps us become informed citizens and learning about our country,” she said.

Her fellow attorney on Friday, Jessica Roller, participating in her third mock-trial competition, said she’s thinking of a legal career.

“I like how we get to argue with people, because I like to argue,” Roller said.

Mary Mathews Bebech, one of Hubbard’s mock- trial advisers, said she found that her daughter, Alanna Bebech, benefited from her mock-trial experience in that it helped her make credible arguments when scholarships were on the line.

Mary was outside of the room as Alanna told a scholarship committee about herself.

“We could hear her responses,” Mary said. “She’s actually living what she learned. She’s presenting a case — her strengths and weaknesses, the different perspectives and different angles.”