Eight area middle schools prepping cases for annual Conway regional mock trial competition
Middle schools along the Grand Strand are gearing up to argue the prosecution and defense sides of a fictitious criminal case before a panel of local volunteer lawyers and judges.
The 12th annual S.C. Bar Conway Regional Middle School Mock Trial Competition will be Saturday for eight local teams from Horry, Georgetown and Florence counties. The regional competition was rescheduled to this weekend because of the historic statewide flooding. The state competition was canceled, according to Rachel Kerley, public relations coordinator for the S.C. Bar.
Unlike past years, this year will feature four winning teams, one from each region, Kerley said.
Participating Pee Dee schools are:
- Black Water
- C.E. Murray
- Forestbrook
- Kingstree
- North Myrtle Beach
- St. James
- Whittemore Park
- Williams
Students will present defense and prosecution sides of a fictitious criminal case before a panel of volunteer lawyers and judges. Students will also fill the roles of attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and timekeepers. Each team will be judged on its presentation skills, rather than the legal merits of the case, Kerley said.
This year’s case is Skyler Reed v. 104.4 WSCB Inc. and Cameron Jackson. In this case, radio station 104.4 WSCB hosted the 2015 Music in the Sand Festival and during the event DJ Cameron Jackson, “DJ CJ,” flew a drone over the crowd to record the festivities.
During the opening performance, DJ CJ received several emergency phone calls and was forced to step away from piloting the drone. At the same time fan Skyler Reed fell from a trash can and suffered injuries. Reed alleges the fall was the result of the drone, but evidence suggests the fall may be due to other causes.
The Mock Trial program is sponsored by the S.C. Bar’s Law Related Education Division, which was developed in 1976 to improve the ability of teachers to instruct law related education.
This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Eight area middle schools prepping cases for annual Conway regional mock trial competition."