May 5, 2023

For the second year in a row, the New Hartford Mock Trial team has earned the title of Oneida-Herkimer-Madison Champions after competing in the 2023 New York State Bar Association Mock Trial Tournament.

Students participating in the New York State High School Mock Trial Program learn about civil law, criminal law and courtroom procedures.

The team of students in grades 9 through 12, led by social studies teacher Peter Anderson, analyzed a designated legal case throughout the school year to prepare for the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) state-wide tournament series. Students also worked with this year’s attorney advisors, Eva Brindisi Pearlman, Esq. of Brindisi, Murad & Brindisi Pearlman, LLP and Patrick G. Radel, Esq. of Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP.

On April 28, the team secured a courtroom victory arguing this year’s fictional case, Remington Stone v. Marley Miser and Acme Construction Corporation, before Utica City Court Judge F. Christopher Giruzzi. The case is a personal injury lawsuit in a hypothetical state that has contributory negligence laws.

As a result of the team’s local championship win and for the second time in New Hartford Mock Trial history, the team will proceed to the Regional Championship, which will be held in Onondaga County on May 6.

Pictured in the photo (from left to right): Jonathan Mirabal (Grade 12), Eoin Clive (Grade 9), Brigid Clive (Grade 12), David Fenner (Grade 12), Utica City Court Judge F. Christopher Giruzzi, Nathan Amankwah (Grade 11), Sophia O'Neill (Grade 12), Mary Angelini (Grade 12), Kassandra Lucero (Grade 12) and Henry Daley (Grade 12).

Team members not in the photo include: Olivia Vitullo (Grade 10), Sophia Vitullo (Grade 10), Dominic Ambrose (Grade 12), Vijay Bapana (Grade 11), Daniel Friedel (Grade 12), Aishaanya Kaushik (Grade 11), Olympia Pratt (Grade 10) and Caroline Sekula (Grade 10).