Roman Catholic High School Mock Trial Team Places 3rd in World Championships

The Roman Catholic High School mock trial team finished third in the Empire Mock Trial World Championship Tournament held in New York City. Forty of the best mock trial teams from across seven countries competed in this invitation-only tournament, which was held at the United States Courthouse for the Eastern District of New York. The eight varsity members of Roman’s forty-plus member team who competed in this tournament prepared their cases for the past four months, putting in countless hours at weekly team practices since the beginning of July.

The students took on the roles of attorneys and witnesses in this timely mock civil trial. Each trial was judged by a panel of practicing attorneys, who scored the students based on their witness portrayals, skill in direct and cross examining witnesses and advocacy in presenting opening statements, closing arguments and objections to the court.

Roman’s team won all four of their trials against their four opponents: West Linn High School from Oregon, American Heritage High School from Florida, Coláiste na Toirbhirte High School from Ireland and Spain Park High School from Alabama.

Senior Vincent Capitolo captained the team, which included fellow senior Phil Tedros, juniors Christian Dellavella, Joe Pizzo and Joe Doherty, as well as sophomores James Conway, Paul Keene and Josh Picciotti. Doherty and Keene won individual awards for their outstanding witness portrayals throughout the tournament. Coaches Steven Patton, John Pensabene, Pat Prendergast and George Zindel worked with the team throughout the summer and traveled with the team to New York.

With more than forty members spread across four trial teams, Roman Catholic High School’s mock trial team is one of the largest teams in the country. The team placed 12th at this Empire World Championship Tournament last year and has won the Philadelphia City Championship for the past two years before finishing second in a field of more than 300 teams in Pennsylvania in both 2014 and 2015.

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