The Prout School’s Mock Trial Team defeated Mount St. Charles in Round One of the playoffs in Rhode Island Legal Education Foundation’s Annual Mock Trial Competition before the Honorable Steven Minicucci at J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence.

The defense team of Ella Procaccianti, Zoe Hall and Siena Taliani defended the criminal case with the help of their witnesses Hayden Gill, Emma Thomas (the defendant), and Gabe Girard, and Rules Expert Gabby Andrade.  Ella came out with a captivating and flawless opening statement, earning high praise from the performance judges for her style and professionalism.  

With a welcoming invitation from the bench, Ella quickly threw opposing counsel off course with her voir dire of their expert witness, again successfully causing the judge to limit the scope of the witness’s testimony.  Zoe Hall commandeered her opponent with solid objections from the start and demonstrated her skills refreshing her witness’s recollection on visibility on the night in question.  Hayden, as the first defense witness, bolstered the defense case with her amiable poise, credible testimony and purposeful eye contact.  Emma, in her first appearance as defendant Quinn Penner and despite having only a few days to prepare to stand in for the role, was outstanding and left no doubt in the jury regarding her innocence.  Gabe earned accolades for being an authentic zookeeper from the judge, who noted the trial highlight was when Gabe testified his “favorite place to be is in the zoo”.  Siena demonstrated masterful skills during both direct and cross examinations but shined even brighter during her fantastic closing argument.  

Crusaders will next prosecute the case against defending Moses Brown in Round Two on Wednesday, February 11^th at 12:30 p.m. at J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence.  Prosecution attorneys Gabby Andrade, Bella Crupe and Sara Slitt will really need the help of their witnesses Emma Thomas, Ebby Demos and Layla Crozier (or stand-in Siena Taliani) to prove the difficult murder case beyond a reasonable doubt!