After a very slim defeat in the county championship of last year’s competition, the Cazenovia High School Mock Trial team is already gearing up for what should prove to be another challenging season.

High School Mock Trial is a program sponsored by the New York State Bar Association every year. Students from schools across the state compete starting in February, with the finalists traveling to Albany in May to try their cases before an actual judge of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. The Cazenovia team will compete against 15 other schools from the general area this year.

Each year the case is different, alternating between a criminal or civil case. The committee tries to come up with interesting “pretend” scenarios that snatch facts from real-life headlines.

This year, the team is preparing to litigate a criminal case involving a purported sale of oxycodone, with an interesting twist in that the students will be arguing at a pre-trial hearing for or against the suppression of the drugs which were seized by the police without a warrant.

In The People v. Kelly Roberts, the defendant was seen in an encounter that had “all the earmarks of a drug deal.” He ran from the police and his apartment was entered by the police without a warrant. An empty bottle of oxycodone was found “in plain sight,” and a warrantless search of his backyard discovered the pills.

The students who represent the People will be arguing that there were exceptions to the warrant requirement in this case. The students representing the defendant will be arguing that the exceptions do not apply, that the searches were illegal and that anything found as a result of the illegal searches should be suppressed, meaning not permitted to be introduced at trial.

The students have been getting an in-depth education in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, the prohibition against warrantless searches and seizures. They must learn and master the same rules of evidence and trial tactics over a few short months that law students learn over the course of three years. Additionally, the team never knows what “judge” they might be appearing before, and have to think on their feet and adapt to each one in their effort to score points for the team. Both the students acting as lawyers and those acting as witnesses will need to score points in order for a team to prevail.

Students must prepare both sides of the case and won’t know until shortly before each round whether they will be presenting the side of the plaintiff or the defense.

Cazenovia High School’s Mock Trial team consists of students from every grade. Representing the People are Sophia Carroll, Siobhan Kiernan and Emily Mahoney. When they put on their case they will be directing questions to: Officer Bobby Flanagan who conducted the warrantless search and seizures, played by Stephen Ponzer; Leslie Mooney, a neighbor who saw drugs being thrown out the defendant’s window but who has a grudge against the defendant, played by Sidney Levinson; and Dr. Jordan Taylor, a chemist the team will seek to qualify as an expert, played by Maddy Gavitt and Olivia Carroll.

The defendant is ably represented by Nick Barna, Eric Liddell and Helen Barna. They will present the testimony of: the defendant Kelly Roberts, played by Zane Anthony; Sam Doolittle, the neighboring childcare provider whose supervision of the children in her care will be called into question, played by Mya Walters and Mackenzie Yates; and Parker Pederson, the witness alleged to be buying the oxycodone from the defendant, played by Megan Schwartz and Eva Salzman.

The students are coached by Hon. Elizabeth W. Koennecke, an administrative law judge for a federal agency.

The first round will take place against Chittenango High School on Thursday, Feb. 25, at Nottingham High School. The second round, against Fabius-Pompey, will take place on Tuesday, March 8, at Cazenovia High School. The proceedings commence at 3:30 p.m.

Spectators are welcome but must not wear any clothing that identifies a competing school as the identity of the teams are kept secret from the volunteer judges.