Students Get Their Day In Court At

Mock Trials

Photo by Stephanie Faughnan Southern Regional’s Mock Trial team had their day in court.

By Stephanie Faughnan

TOMS RIVER – Ten Southern Regional High School students found themselves before judges last Saturday – on a day when the Ocean County Courthouse traditionally remains locked tight.

The nine young women and one young man attempted to mask their apprehension – unrelated to any worries they could wind up behind bars.

As team members of one of the eight Ocean County schools participating in the Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition, each of the students assumed assigned roles. Four donned suits as attorneys prepared to represent their clients in a civil case. A plaintiff, a defendant, and four witnesses were ready to give testimony and even the prospect of grueling 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 (Students - See Page 33)

Retiring

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The public’s perception of police work has had some impact over the last four decades. However, Berquist said he had not personally experienced the negativity, which he attributed to a “few bad apples” who made it tough for others.

“On some occasions, people in our profession have done some bad things,” shared Berquist. “There are also some good people that made mistakes. Unfortunately, this has hurt us and continues to hurt us and is not helping our ability to hire people.”

Once considered one of the best jobs across the nation, fewer applicants are signing up to take the test to become cops, according to Berquist. At a foundation of federal law enforcement officials, Berquist heard an interesting analogy made by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who spoke on the value of service.

The Commandant recalled how people spit on soldiers returning from Vietnam. However, he pointed out that people now have a whole different appreciation for military service and said the same would return to police work.

No doubt that Berquist has seen a lot over four decades in law enforcement. The answer to what he viewed as his most rewarding experience provides insight into his personal value system.

“We helped a young boy whose mother couldn’t make it home for Christmas,” Berquist recalled. “We passed a hat at the hospital and got him toys and other gifts.”

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy worked with Berquist when the Undersheriff was part of Brick Township’s Police Department. He highlighted some of Berquist’s accomplishments while working for the county law enforcement agency.

“He took the lead on the body camera project,” said Matronardy. “He also took the lead on some equipment projects such as the safety holster one.”

Mastronardy said Berquist had always been a consummate professional in dealing with the judges and court staff and was a fantastic liaison who will be missed.

The Sheriff has not yet announced who will replace Berquist as Undersheriff.

A Full Service Law Firm

Students:

Continued From Page 30 defendant, Sam Arena (Rachel Perry) before Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch. Attorney Carrie Smith also participated 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.

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Items that are not acceptable include magazines, books, junk mail, hanging file folders, greeting cards, photos, x-rays, CDs, floppy disks, microfilm, shredded paper and garbage. In addition, moldy or wet paper and plastic bags should not be included in the shredding.

Each shredding event runs from 9 a.m. to noon or until the trucks are full. Each truck has a capacity to hold five to seven tons of paper and all documents are destroyed confidentially on site.

The dates and locations for the 2023 schedule are:

March 29 – Lakewood, Public Works Yard, 1 America Avenue

April 1 – Berkeley, Recycling Center Lot, 630 Pinewald Keswick Road

April 15 – Seaside Heights, Recycling Center Lot, Bay Boulevard and Sherman Avenue

April 29 – Stafford, Ocean County Southern Recycling Center, 279 Haywood Road

May 13 – Waretown, Municipal Complex Lot, 50 Railroad Avenue

May 19 – Toms River, Riverwood Parking Lot, 250 Riverwood Drive

June 3 – Jackson, Municipal Building Rear Lot, 95 West Veterans Highway

June 17 – Little Egg Harbor, Community

Center Lot, 319 West Cala Breeze Way

June 24 – Point Pleasant Borough High School Lot, 2300 Panther Path

Sept. 9 – Manchester, Soccer Field, 101 South Colonial Drive

Sept. 16 – Lacey, Recycling Center Lot, 820 Municipal Lane

Sept. 23 – Barnegat, Recycling Center Lot, 5 Lippincott Avenue

Oct. 14 – Beach Haven, Parking Lot, Taylor Avenue

Oct. 21 – Brick, Public Works Yard, 836 Ridge Road

Oct. 28 – Beachwood, Municipal Complex Lot, 1600 Pinewald Road

Shredded Paper

Shredded office paper should not be placed with curbside recyclables, and should instead be brought to the drop-off boxes (near Building 105 at the Ocean County Southern Recycling Center in Stafford or Building 68 at the Ocean County Northern Recycling Center in Lakewood) for recycling.

As shredded paper cannot be effectively sorted by Ocean County’s Recyclable Materials Processing Facility, it needs to be recycled separately in order to produce a viable, marketable commodity.

The contractor for this year’s program is Toms River based IDSAutoshred. For more information, visit co.ocean. nj.us/recycle

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