Felicity Krieger described herself as “very quiet” when she was a freshman at Ashland High School.
Participating in mock trial changed all that.
“It really brought me out of my shell, got me used to public speaking,” Krieger said. “I made some of my best friends in mock trial.”
Krieger was a member of one of two teams entered by Ashland for Friday’s district competition, held at the Richland County Courthouse.
The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education is in its 43rd year of holding the annual statewide mock trial competition.
Krieger’s team, which handled the prosecution, took on a squad from Danville in the afternoon session. Each side had two attorneys and two witnesses, along with a bailiff.
Another Ashland team provided the defense in a separate trial in another courtroom.
Krieger excelled, with judges naming her the outstanding witness. Ashland adviser Jon Court said she is the only four-year mock trial member this year.
“She’s been a staple in our program and a really good leader,” Court said. “I am happy that she was able to get best witness on our trial. She definitely earned it.”
Common pleas judge, magistrate and assistant prosecutor serve as judges
Judges for the trial were Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson, Assistant Prosecutor Bryan Dove and Juvenile Court Magistrate Sheryl Groff. The competition was held in Robinson’s courtroom.
When Robinson named Krieger the outstanding witness, she cupped her hands over her mouth.
“This is the best I’ve ever done in a trial,” she said.
In this year’s case, students argued both sides of a motion hearing that combined forensic science, emerging technology and Fourth Amendment questions.
The case began with the 2000 murder of 24-year-old Caleb “CJ” Jansen, a warehouse worker found strangled in his apartment. A violent struggle left DNA under the victim’s fingernails, but no match was found and the case went cold.
At least, until 25 years later, when high school student Frankie Moyo uploaded DNA to a genealogy site for extra credit and unknowingly triggered a chain of events leading police straight to Morgan Remy, a former security guard at CJ’s workplace.
Not only was Remy’s DNA a match, but police also discovered CJ’s long-missing gold signet ring in Remy’s home.
Before trial, the defense filed a motion to suppress the genetic genealogy evidence, arguing that police violated the Fourth Amendment by using a third-party’s DNA without a warrant.
The court had to decide: Was this a powerful new investigative tool or a constitutional overreach?
“It’s very interesting,” Court said. “It forces the students to kind of have to defend things that they are not comfortable defending because the defendant in this case … there’s a lot of incriminating evidence, and it’s hard not to assume that criminal’s guilty.
“It forces kids to defend the Constitution more than the client in this situation.”
The judges were effusive in their praise for students on both Ashland and Danville. Dove suggested he might steal a line from Caleb Selan, an Ashland team member, when he’s back in court as an assistant prosecutor.
Selan and Dakota Hummel were the attorneys for Ashland in the one trial. Lacie Flint joined Krieger as a witness, and Madeline Tunnell, daughter of Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell, served as timekeeper.
“I’m really proud of the whole team in general,” Krieger said.
Her pride was well-founded as Ashland advanced to regional competition at a site to be determined on Feb. 20.
Members of Ashland’s other team were Luka Gable, Ailah Harris, Veronika Kerkez, Ethan Rhine and Kaylee Fletcher. While the team didn’t advance to regionals, Harris was named outstanding attorney and Rhine was the outstanding witness in their trial.
Ashland and Danville are stalwarts of mock trial competition. Unfortunately, even though Richland County hosted the district competition, there were no county schools involved.
Court said the COVID-19 epidemic hurt mock trial and so many other activities. Another reason for the decline is the push in education for high school students to take college courses before they graduate. There aren’t as many kids in the high school on a daily basis, he said.
Krieger recommends participating. Even though she is not pursuing a career in law, she plans to join the mock trial team at Kent State University next year.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
X: @MarkCau32059251
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ashland High School advances in mock trial district competition
Reporting by Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
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