More than 300 students representing 24 teams will participate in the 2023 Indiana Bar Foundation High School Mock Trial State Finals March 11 and 12 in Indianapolis.
“The expertise of our students, the depth of our teams, and the support of our educators, mentors, and school communities makes Indiana’s high school Mock Trial program among the best in the nation,” Foundation President & CEO Charles Dunlap said. “In addition, sponsors, volunteers, and Foundation staff create an exceptional experience for our students, educators, and school communities.”
Teams qualified for the State Finals through regionals held in South Bend, Evansville, Hammond, and Indianapolis.
Locally, four high school teams from Hamilton County will compete this weekend:
- Carmel High School, The Understudies
- Fishers High School, Bullet Proof
- Hamilton Southeastern High School, Foul Play
- Hamilton Southeastern High School, Killer Act
Mock Trial introduces Indiana students to the legal system and the judicial branch of government. Through Mock Trial, students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the American courts.
Taking the roles of attorneys and witnesses, students take an in-depth, hands-on learning and appreciation of our society’s approach to dispute resolution and justice. Students take case background information and witness statements and apply it to the law. They craft arguments, support it through testimony and physical evidence, and present it to a panel of attorneys, judges, and community members who evaluate their arguments and presentations.
Each year, the Foundation creates a fictionalized case for trial arguments, alternating annually between civil and criminal cases. This year, teams are arguing State of Indiana v. Sam Barrett, where Barrett is charged with murder and a lesser included charge of reckless homicide.
A celebration of the arts and drama has truly turned dramatic. Madison Fields has written and is now directing a new play, Frontier, as their newest, most exciting, and most complex story. The drama doesn’t just take place in the pages of the script. Actors Sam Barrett and Edward Tiffin have a history of being frenemies and fighting over roles in different productions they’ve been in. Other actors Tony/Toni Gonzalez and Jonathan Jennings also join the production.
As the play becomes more costly, more complex, and closer to the time of the premier, things really start to get heated and confused. Taylor Rudzinski, assistant director of props and costumes, has concerns with the weapons in the play, both the access to firearms and the swords being used as well as the training the actors are getting in preparation for the production.
In the final dress rehearsal, going through a scene where the characters try to shoot at apparitions of characters, things go wrong. One of the guns used for the gun fight was loaded with a real bullet instead of a blank.
In the chaos of the shootout, Jonathan Jennings was shot and killed. Investigations followed by both local police detective Peyton Haskins and independent investigator Danny/Danni Nakashima. With the information at hand, local prosecutors have found means, motive, and opportunity to charge Sam Barrett.
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The State Finals will be held at the Community Justice Campus in Indianapolis. Follow the Foundation on Twitter and Facebook for Mock Trial State Finals updates and results. Click here to learn more about Mock Trial.