The Curtis Mock Trial team won their first trial in ten years on February 7th, 2024, with their prosecution team having gone against the defense team of Lincoln High School at the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Court, the district court of eastern New York, in Brooklyn, beating them by two points. Our team consisted of three lawyers; Julia Barrett, representing witness Raya Scheffler, Mia Castagna, representing witness Arijeta Demirovic, and Kiara Ramirez, representing Charlee Burke. Charlie Packowski, a law teacher at Curtis and head coach of boy’s varsity football and lacrosse, hasn’t secured a win with Mock Trial since 2014, this team having made it to the quarter finals. This new win, however, marks a new and auspicious era for the team, as Mr. Packowski shared, “proud, and kind of a justification of the student’s hard work… I feel really confident about next year, especially with eight members who will be returning.” This leaves four spots open to any Curtis student who wants to join the team for the 2024-2025 school year.
Their defense team, however, went against the prosecution of John Dewey High School on February 28th, ending in an unfortunate loss for the Curtis Mock Trial team and the end of their year. Mr. Packowski admitted that their loss was shocking because he felt “everything they did was solid… opening, questioning, and especially the closing statement.” Adrienne Daluwattage, a junior who gave the closing statement for the defense team, agreed with her advisor, saying, “The best asset of our team is definitely our unity and the ability to work together. I feel very confident about next year’s team because we are taking the feedback from this round and we’re using it to better ourselves.”
The team has taken this loss in stride, and as they say goodbye to four seniors, they also seek new members to replace these positions. Daluwattage offered some advice on this front: “If you are interested in mock trial or moot court, be prepared and confident in your arguments. Hitting the most points possible in your argument is the most difficult, but reading will be your best friend in that department.” In other words, the devil is in the details, cumulating to either a win or loss.
