Blue Devil Mock Trial Team Advances to County Finals

The Huntington mock trial team topped Kings Park in a Suffolk Final Four match-up to advance to next week’s county championship trial against Northport at the Suffolk Bar Association in Hauppauge.

As the Blue Devils sat in the opening ceremony for the county tournament semifinals on Wednesday afternoon and saw only four teams remaining, the reality of the situation set in and it was evident that the county finals were within Huntington’s reach.

Although the week of preparation was grueling as students had numerous other commitments involving the school musical and athletics, burning the candle at both ends for several days paid off as No. 2 Huntington squared off against No. 12 Kings Park.

“Isabella Careccia-Johnson returned to the stand as our lead defense witness for the first time in over a month and she truly did not miss a beat,” said Bryan Outsen, who along with fellow business department teaching colleague Suzi Biagi is the team’s faculty advisor. Attorney Xavier Palacios, a Huntington High School alum, is the Blue Devil team’s legal advisor and he takes the lead role in preparing the team for its competitions.

“Isabella gracefully portrayed the role of the unassuming homeowner Marley Miser and put on a show alongside her attorney Angie Hernandez-Ramos,” Mr. Outsen said. “On cross examination, she completely took control of the testimony from the opposing attorney and from there it became evident that this was our day.”

Vincenza Garofalo was next on the stand and showed significant improvement from her first round performance as she went on to deliver her best direct and cross examinations of the season. She, too, controlled her cross examination by cautiously asking for clarification and meticulously avoiding statements of bias.

Andrew Ganley was faced with the task of going up against arguably the strongest and most experienced attorney Huntington has seen this season and he was able to hold his own. After an unexpected “voir dire” that almost derailed his direct examination, he was able to recover nicely and narrowly avoid multiple instances of impeachment by consistently sticking to the facts in his affidavit on cross.

Elizabeth James set the bar extremely high out of the gate with her best opening statement of the year. “She completely captured the attendance of Judge [James] McDonaugh with her ability to effortlessly lay the groundwork for our case while utilizing eye contact, superior tone and pacing, and complete command of the courtroom,” Mr. Outsen said.

Nina Fascilla continued her playoff dominance as she completely controlled the cross examination of the plaintiff’s expert witness and discredited much of her testimony. Strategic objection rationale, poise during rebuttals and confident protection of her own witness were all showcased by the teenager.

Once again, Angie Hernandez-Ramos shined in the courtroom, continuing to make a strong case for the Best Attorney Award during the county playoffs. “Her direct examination was delivered with perfection,” Mr. Outsen said. “She surprised the opposing team by starting her cross examination with an impeachment attempt and was even able to block a key plaintiff medical report from being entered into evidence.”

Ms. Ramos’ closing statement clinched another win for Huntington and sent to the Blue Devils to the county championship match.

The winner of next week’s county finals will advance to the state championship round in Albany later this spring.