Program Agenda

FAQs

In Advance:	Four participants are chosen in advance to be the attorneys — two for the plaintiff and two for the defense. Witnesses are chosen in advance. *The judge, the participant attorneys, the teacher attorneys, and witnesses are the only ones who receive the script in advance.*
Address:
Note:	The scenario centers on a high school driver who may have been texting while driving on a federal parkway and had an accident that put a friend, from another state, in the hospital. It is an example of how a seemingly harmless action "that everybody does" can have long-term consequences. All participants, who aren't lawyers or witnesses, serve on 12-person juries. Everyone participates.

In the Courtroom

2:45 p.m.	In Judge ________________’s Courtroom, the two participant attorneys are seated at the counsel tables with two real attorneys. The defendant also sits at the counsel table. Witnesses sit in the front row of the gallery. While waiting for the program to begin, the other teachers fill out the quiz Sometimes There are No Do-Overs, a pre-test for the follow-up discussion after the mock trial. The focus is on decisions participants make today that can have legal and/or lifelong consequences.
3:00 p.m.	Judge ________________ takes the bench. The real attorneys make their opening statements.
3:05 p.m.	The participant attorneys and participant witnesses role play their parts.
3:25 p.m.	Break for all participants. The participant attorneys prepare their closing arguments with the real attorneys.
3:35 p.m.	Participants return and participant attorneys deliver their closing arguments. Plaintiff first. Defense second. No Plaintiff rebuttal.
3:45 p.m.	After the closing arguments, participants report to their deliberation rooms or areas of the courtroom. First order of business: select a foreperson who will mark the verdict form and announce the verdict in the courtroom.
4:00 p.m.	Participants come back to order and each jury foreperson announces a verdict. The Judge asks juries how they arrived at their respective verdicts. The Judge and attorneys lead a debriefing of the mock trial and jury deliberations.
4:15 p.m.	Probation officers comment on questions teachers raise, based on the Sometimes There are No Do-Overs quiz. When finished, teachers have informal time with the Judge, probation officers, and attorneys.
4:45 p.m.	Informal conversation time with the Judge, attorneys, and probation officers.
5:00 p.m.	Program adjourns.