DANVILLE – Olivia Keffer has legal factoids stuffed in her head. Lessons and historical precedents plucked for precisely the right moment.
Supreme Court cases. Objections. Legal rules and manners of law. Not every kid thinks as deeply nor spends countless hours on the United States legal system.
But Keffer doesn’t fit the typical mold. Nor do the other 12 students who are part of the Danville Mock Trial team.
This year’s mock trial group comprises two teams, with students from eighth grade to senior status like Keffer.
Danville’s Mock Trial team has the only eighth grader in the state competing at the high school level — Nya Holbrook.
Though the mock trial is a team activity — each member has a role to play, with strengths and spots of expected improvement.
“I tend to slur my words,” Holbrook said. “(It) makes me irritated.”
Storing the legal information necessary for the group weighs down mightily, too.
This year’s case
This year’s case involves a money laundering junkyard owner arguing to keep possession of his 1967 Chevy Carmello, which the state is trying to seize for restorations.
The defense is arguing the seizure is an assessive fine — and it’s worth more than the state is citing.
The team has argued the 8th Amendment case throughout the state as the prosecutor and defendant, winning four invitations in the process:
- Kent State University
- Miami University
- University of Cincinnati
- Ohio State University
What’s motivating Keffer is last year’s results at the state competition, where the team missed the threshold to move on by one place.
“We experienced first-hand how much we want to keep advancing, especially how close we were last year,” Keffer said.
If Danville Mock Trial did advance to the second day of state competition it would be the first in the team’s history, Keffer added.
Preparing for the big moment means not being complacent, Keffer said, noting there are always ways to improve from a previous competition.
Team Holmes will move on to the state competition after securing a victory at the regional competition recently.
Besides winning competitions, the mock trial team has helped teammates in other ways.
Senior Tanner Banbury has enhanced his public speaking skills because of mock trial, he said.
“It was a barrier I had,” he said. “My confidence went up when I started doing competitions.
“I was really quiet. This year I think I handled it (competitions) really well.”