In most ordinary years, it is rare to moot against the same school more than once, but 2020 has not been an ordinary year, and so it probably was not that surprising for the Saints team to find themselves mooting against Oakhill College via ZOOM two rounds in a row. In August, the neophyte team had to defend an alleged shoplifter (played skilfully by Luke Bolton) against the charge of larceny. That was the first outing for Alex Greig as First Barrister and also Zac Tapsell as Second Barrister; they both acquitted themselves creditably (winning the trial 225 to 211) although they failed to gain an acquittal for their client.
Four weeks later, the team was scheduled to take on Oakhill again, this time as the plaintiff in a contested will dispute. The Year 11 boys took on the major roles in their last chance to shine adversarially while the Year 10 members acted in the witness roles (Jave Abley outstanding as the second witness, a doctor with a bent for gerontology). Unfortunately, on the day, Tom Copping had to withdraw – a late scratching due to illness. Flinders Brogden showed the mettle he is made of, slotting into the role of First Barrister, while Tighe Jones stepped up to replace Flinders as the Solicitor and performed his role as if he were a seasoned advocate.
The truly outstanding performance on the night, however, came from Rory Graham, who appeared as Second Barrister. In praising Rory’s performance, the presiding magistrate dubbed it the best he had “ever seen” and recommended all the other contestants use Rory as a model and emulate his focused and forensic cross examination style. Rory was awarded 99% – a score as unprecedented as the year itself.
In terms of the overall competition, it is hypothetically possible (but unlikely) that the team, with two strong wins from three cases, could make it into the playoffs. All Year 9 students are reminded to look out for the opportunity to get involved in 2021, when we hope the competition will move back into a more traditional non-ZOOM format.
Chris Hardy
TIC Mock Trials
