May 24, 2012

NYACK HIGH SCHOOL WINS
NEW YORK STATE MOCK TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP

ALBANY—Nyack High School (Rockland County) finished first in the New York Statewide High School Mock Trial Tournament Finals this week while Jamesville-Dewitt High School (Onondaga County) came in second place.

Teacher Kevin Sullivan and attorney-coach Dr. Duncan Rogers Lee II coached Nyack High School to its first state victory. Team members are Samuel Bangs, Rebecca Blair, Cassandra Brown, Charlotte Buck, Gillian Clowes, Andrew Gates, Jessica Gerber, Lauren Gerber, Allison Hackel, Ryan Kirsch, Natasha Sarna and Jacob Steinberg-Otter. Nyack High School previously competed in the 2008 state finals.

Teams argued the fictional case of People of the State of New York vs. P.J. Long. The case involved a defendant charged with assault in the second degree.

New York State Court of Appeals Judge Robert S. Smith presided over the final round at the James T. Foley Federal Courthouse in Albany on May 22.

The mock trial season began in December 2011 when more than 300 high school teams from across New York began preparing and presenting their cases in local tournaments. Local county winners then moved on to regional tournaments. Regional winners competed in Monday’s semi-finals.

Semi-finalists were: Clarence High School, Erie County; Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School, Schenectady County; Townsend Harris High School, Queens County; and William Floyd High School, Suffolk County.

The New York Mock Trial High School Tournament has been administered by the Law, Youth and Citizenship Committee of the New York State Bar Association since 1982. It is supported by the New York Bar Foundation. It is one of the largest mock trial competitions in the country.

The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.

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