SMETHPORT — Smethport Area High School is one of 287 teams from 242 high schools across Pennsylvania that will be competing at district and regional levels of the Statewide Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.
The first two rounds of the competition are slated for Friday afternoon at the McKean County Courthouse.
Pennsylvania’s mock trial program, now in its 36th year, is one of the largest in the nation. Twenty-seven students in grades 9 through 12, including understudies, are on the Smethport team. Kelly Tarbox, enrichment teacher at Smethport, is the faculty advisor.
“For participating students across Pennsylvania this mock trial competition is more than an academic exercise,” said Alaina C. Koltash of Harrisburg, chair of the association’s Young Lawyers Division. “These students will gain a working knowledge of our justice system, plus successful dispute resolution techniques, and valuable presentation, critical-thinking and teamwork skills that will serve them well throughout their lifetimes.”
Smethport attorney Tony Alfieri, attorney advisor to the Smethport teams for more than 20 years, said the annual trials alternate between civil and criminal cases. “This year’s case is a criminal case,” he told The Era.
This hypothetical case, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs Dr. Rae Shafer, is a jury trial in which the defendant, a local pain management doctor, is accused of prescribing opiate painkillers outside the realm of normal medical practice, resulting in the death of his patient.
The case was written by Jonathan A. Goode of Philadelphia, Paul W. Kaufman of Philadelphia, Koltash and Talia Charme-Zane, an alumna of the Pennsylvania mock trial program and former captain of the Central High School team in Philadelphia.
The scholastic team has been practicing since the case was announced in November, Alfieri said.
Speaking about Friday’s competition, Alfieri said, “All schools will have two teams — Commonwealth and defense, and each will compete against other schools Friday. Each team will have three attorneys, three witnesses and a timekeeper.”
An attorney will take the role of the judge. Attorneys, acting as the jury, will score the teams according to certain criteria.
The top four teams advance to the district semi- and final rounds on Feb. 11. Those winners then go onto the regional competition.
