Maggie Sgaramella ’26
On February 21, EA’s Mock Trial team, along with many other local schools, will compete in a real courtroom setting, simulating a real court case. Graded by judges on a rubric scale, the Mock Trial competition places less emphasis on the outcome of the actual trial and more on the neatness and effectiveness of each side’s case theory. With the help of Head Coach Senora Claridad Cloud, Upper School Spanish Teacher, and recent addition, Mrs. Tracy Motley, Upper School Math Teacher, as well as the 22 members of the team, EA Mock Trial is ready to put their best foot forward after hours of work dedicated to the case.
Mock Trial is a statewide competition where schools across PA compete in a real court setting as the defense or prosecution of a given court case. This year, the case covers a medical liability issue. The case follows a hypothetical high school athlete named Bo Bridger, who becomes gravely ill after following a raw food diet promoted online for an extended period of time. This case has incredible dimensions, as Bridger and her friend, influenced by this online diet, shot and killed a fox illegally while on a camping trip together. Bridger proceeded to eat the fox raw, which was part of what led to her contracting a muscle-eating disease. She went to her primary care physician many times over the course of her following this diet, and was only ever treated for common cold symptoms. Weeks later, Bridger collapsed and was taken to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with trichinosis, a parasitic disease that causes permanent muscle and brain damage.
This case presents a lot of challenges, the main one being, as Cloud notes, that “Both the accuser and the accused are not at trial.” The accuser, Bridger, is incapacitated due to the illness she has and thus is being represented by her mother. The accused, her primary care physician, Dr. Colter, passed away due to a heart attack, and is thus being represented by an expert witness doctor. “In the mock trial world that causes a lot of problems with hearsay,” says Cloud, “that means everything that is being said is being said on behalf of someone else and not directly by the person who experienced it.” She remarks that EA’s team has had to write carefully around this fact to avoid objections during the trial.
Photo courtesy of @ea1785
It is also a difficult case since it is an issue of liability. There is no guilty or innocent final verdict, which requires every action that the EA Mock Trial team takes to be all the more deliberate. Cloud remarks that it took significant time for students to wrap their heads around that fact, as many people only think of court cases as black and white.
Club member Abigail Bayri ‘28 describes the case’s other unique challenges, saying, “It shows how the internet can influence teenagers, and even adults, to do things that could hurt them, without them knowing. With cases like this, you have to think about both perspectives and how the jury would view them.”
Club member Darcy Mackenzie ‘27 says that “This case is unique as it is our first-ever malpractice case, meaning all new specialists and medical jargon to learn.” A big part of the mock trial club’s efforts goes towards memorizing character statements and making sure their knowledge of relevant subtopics is watertight. Mackenzie remarks that the addition of complex medical licenses and technicalities can make an already difficult task harder. She says, “Keeping our story straight is a struggle.”
EA’s Mock Trial team plans to attack this difficult case in a very methodical way. According to Bayrui, after assigning the initial roles and order of responsibilities amongst themselves, the team goes straight into scrimmaging and helping each other, just like any sports team would, to become comfortable with their respective parts. Motley says, “I think our team is extremely well prepared; they have really taken hold of the medical aspect of this case and have gotten really comfortable and familiar with it.” They have achieved such familiarity through, as Mackenzie details, quizzing each other and doing lots of thorough research.
Cloud reiterates the importance of each team member knowing their separate roles; however, she also emphasizes the importance of their team’s case theory, “It’s the through line for everything that you are going to ask and answer during the trial.” The case theory is ultimately what the judges grade and what dictates whether or not the team moves on in the competition.
This year, EA’s Mock Trial team hopes to perform well in their competition. “Our district is very competitive just because there are so many schools in the area,” says Cloud. The format of the competition has also been condensed into one day this year, meaning there is less time for the team to do preparations between their two chances at trial. Adjusting to these new changes, as well as complicated judging guidelines, will pose a challenge, but “You can expect us to try our best!” says Mackenzie.
