The defense was ready to present its case. It would argue that the defendant, Hollis Trimble, was innocent of attempted homicide even though he owned a gun, planted a fake car bomb as a gag and threatened Tajari, an employee.

Hearing the case last Thursday afternoon at Bishop Hendricken High School would be a Hendricken alum, former Warwick mayor and now a retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice, Francis Flaherty. Flaherty was not alone in critiquing the student performance. With him was Superior Court clerk assistant Joseph Wolserseder and lawyer Jen Spaziano.

And then there was Rebecca Warr, who is a lawyer and the coach of the Hendricken Mock Trial team that for a first time since the school fielded a team in 2008 has won the state championship. On Wednesday the eight-member team left for Phoenix, Arizona, for the national competition. Forty-eight teams from across the country will have the opportunity to participate in scrimmages today with the competition starting Friday morning with the first round followed by the second round that afternoon. Rounds three and four will be held on Saturday.

Benjamin Warr, son of Rebecca and Ronald Warr and a lawyer on the team, said the team would be argue two cases – one for the defense and the other the prosecution – in each round. Trials follow strict time restrictions and teams are awarded points on their performance.

Benjamin said the team came together in late September. It has been pretty intense since then, says coach Warr. She estimates the students have put in four to five hours a week doing research, reading cases and preparing.  Twenty-five  teams competed in the state competition, which narrowed the field to 16 in three preliminaries.  After winning the state competition, the team received a 112-page packet on April 1 that spelled out the case including affidavits from all of those involved in from witnesses to law-enforcement in the totally factious case for the nationals.

Thinking on their feet

Coach Warr said she “fell in love” with her role when asked to help out the team three years ago.

“They’re a very dedicated group of boys,” she said. She said the experience “will pay off in all their classes, helping them conduct research and to think on their feet.”

 That was evident Thursday when Ryan Lopez, playing the role of defendant “Hollis,” took the stand. There were chuckles when Flaherty said Hollis looked to be 17 years old and not the 73 he said on the stand. Under repeated questioning, Hollis stuck to his story of befriending Tajari Hakika [Jacob Harrigan] an employee, and although  they had argued and he became heated, he was innocent of attempted murder.

In summarizing the performance, Flaherty said “everyone gets nervous,” and as a result they go too fast. He urged the students not only to slow down, but when they find they have missed a portion of their argument, or have forgotten it, to pause and inform the court they are reviewing notes rather than move ahead and come off the tracks. He suggested a short opening statement keying in on what the defense will show, but not bringing up the issue of reasonable doubt until the closing at which time to highlight inconsistences in witness statements.

“Put the question in their [the jury] minds,” he said.

“You want to put as many bulbs on the Christmas tree as possible,” he said referring to elements of the prosecution’s story that can be questioned.

In his 32 years at the court, Wolserseder said, he has seen thousands of lawyers. He commended the students on their performance. Spaziano, who filled several pages of a legal notepad with observations, drilled down to some fine points that Coach Warr and the team were glad to get.

In addition to Benjamin Warr, Jacob Harrigan and Ryan Lopez, other members of the team are Lucas Caporaso, Matthew Pappas, Edward Saroka, Nathan Vieira and Adam Barboza-Simpkins.  Working with coach Warr is teacher-moderator Donna Lynch.

Coach Warr said the Rhode Island Bar Association has been helpful as well as lawyers Pamela Chin, Chris Barone and Chris Friel, who have worked with the team.