Court

: Continued From Page 1 cross-examination by opposing counsel.

Attorneys John Ducey, Stacie Brustman and Taylor Toscano led the organization of Ocean County’s mock trials, which are also held statewide. Several superior court judges and practicing attorneys all volunteered their time in various capacities.

Southern Regional’s in-house coach teaches both history and Latin. However, it just so happens that Joe Spirito also graduated from Drexel Law School. Additionally, local family law attorney Kristen Henninger Holland devotes a considerable amount of time sharing the ins and outs of the courtroom.

After all, there’s a huge difference between criminal justice television dramas and the real deal.

Teams are only identified by numbers during the competition. The Southern Ocean Times requested the courtroom assignments of Southern Regional without any information concerning their adversarial teams.

Courtrooms were opened to the public and just about filled to capacity. No one seemed to want to miss the action.

Sofia LaPointe and Allison Go went through the first round of the competition and entered their appearances as attorneys for the defendant, Sam Arena (Rachel Perry) before Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch. Attorney Carrie Smith also par- ticipated as a judge during the presentation before the court.

Although New Jersey civil cases usually seat eight jurors with six deliberating, only five students were seated in the jury box and came up with their verdicts quite quickly.

The case assigned to all of the participants involved a wrong death matter stemming from an “energy drink” challenge that allegedly resulted in the death of the plaintiff’s grandson. All of the competitors went from opening arguments, witness testimony, to closing arguments.

Judge Fritch offered some constructive criticism after the first round was over, starting with the positioning the attorneys chose to assume.

“When you’re doing your opening, always face the jury because they’re the ones who you need to convince to believe in your client,” said Fritch. “I understand why you’re facing me, but for the future just play to the jury.”

Smith suggested that the attorneys needed to slow down and not talk so fast. The comment made perfect sense although presentations were timed and it seemed to be a race against the clock.

Both teams were commended for a job well done.

The second round found Daniel Stafford and Lexi Scully as attorneys for the plaintiff, Dylan Salerno, (Andonia Golinski) portrayed the grandmother of the decedent.

Attorneys Craig Newman and Heidi Tannenbaum-Newman acted as judges for the second round. Interestingly, the husband and wife team consist of a criminal defense attorney and an assistant prosecutor.

The same set of five jurors sat for the last round of the Southern Regional mock trials.

At the conclusion of Round II, the Newmans reiterated what competitors heard in the First Round.

“Slow down, breathe, just breathe,” Craig reminded. “Slow yourself down so that the jury can understand.”

“Redirects are good because the other side may have made a point because someone spoke too fast about it,” shared Heidi. “Bring that question back out so that they can hear the main point you want to bring out.”

Students who portrayed witnesses during the two rounds included Kiley Cassidy, Meri Cassidy, Emily Renner, and Makena

Bentivegna.

The Southern Regional Mock Trial team didn’t make it to the semi-finals, but that’s not to say they didn’t walk away as winners with some valuable lessons. One of the best was the importance of being passionate about what they loved. Another was understanding that the best laid plans can easily blow up and require change.

Other schools participating in the Ocean County Mock Trials included Brick Township, Brick Memorial, Central Regional, Jackson Liberty, Jackson Memorial, Southern Regional, MATES, and the Ocean County Academy of Law and Public Safety. Jackson Memorial and MATES made it to the final round and competed for the win after this paper went to press.

Clinic: Continued From Page 1

interview that the town sent proclamations to Congressmen Andy Kim and Chris Smith and both were in favor of that name. Kim is a Democrat who used to represent Toms River. After the districts changed, the town is now represented by Smith, a Republican.

Given that there’s support from both political sides, “I’m pretty confident that’s going to happen,” the mayor said.

As an Army Ranger, Lomell was in Normandy on D-Day. Already injured by machine gun fire, he led his forces on their mission to disable 155mm cannons that were aimed to keep invaders off the beaches. It was necessary to take out those guns before the rest of the forces came to shore. However, the guns had been moved. Lomell spotted markings in an area that looked like something heavy had been moved through there. He followed the trail and disabled the guns, saving countless lives.

Months later, the Rangers would be ordered to take Hill 400, a strategic location in Germany. Many had failed but the Rangers charged and caught the enemy by surprise. They held the hill for the rest of the day, though only 25 of them survived. Lomell suffered a concussion and injured his arm in the battle. He would be wounded again during the Battle of the Bulge. Tom Brokaw has a chapter dedicated to him in “The Greatest Generation.” Lomell settled in Toms River. He was an attorney and businessman, as well as a member of the board of education and trustee of the Ocean County College Foundation. He passed away in 2011.

This wouldn’t be the first thing named after him; a connector road at Garden State Parkway exit 83 is called “Lomell Lane.”

The Brick facility was named after James J. Howard, who represented the 3rd District in Congress from 1965 until his death in office in 1988. He is known for highlighting the dangers of faulty M16 rifles used in Vietnam. He is also responsible for creating the 55 mph speed limit and establishing the drinking age at 21. His name also adorns housing in Fort Monmouth and the portion of Interstate 195 in New Jersey.

Timeline

It took many years to even get to this point.

Currently, veterans travel to Brick’s James J. Howard Outpatient Clinic for their needs. They have complained that the facility is understaffed and that it doesn’t have enough parking. Also, some of them have to travel up to East Orange for certain services.

Towns vied against each other to entice the VA to set up the clinic in their location, but ultimately the Toms River site was chosen. There were the expected bureaucratic setbacks and red tape along the way.

The new building will be about twice the size, measuring 68,000 square feet. It will neighbor the county’s new social services building when that’s completed. There is also a bus stop and other amenities nearby.

Hill estimates that it could open spring of 2024.

FD Stonewater, of Arlington, VA, is the developer. Smithgroup, an architectural, engineering and planning firm; Harvey Cleary builders; and T&M Associates, an engineering company, will also be involved.