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Monthly Archives: November 2024

What is Mock Trial Up To at the District Conference?

By: Elijah DeBusk

During the Youth and Government district meet the trial teams are hard at work trying to
prove that their “side” is right whether that be the prosecution or the defense. During the weeks
leading up to the District meet the trial teams were working on their case. They were writing
questions for their witnesses or they were making questions to ask the opposing teams
witnesses and they were learning the in’s and the out’s of the case so that they were properly
prepared.

At the meet we took some interviews with some of the people from the LASA trial team.
When we were doing the interviews we took time to ask some important questions about their
case. One of the people we had the privilege of interviewing was Anthony Soliz. Anthony told
me about his case “Nutty Negligence” , the first question I asked is a summary of the case and he
said that “the case is around a person named Hazel Nutterson who died of anaphylactic shock
because of a peanut allergy when she ate a dish from a restaurant after she had stated that she
is allergic to peanuts.”. After he gave me the basic information about the case I asked him how
his trials have gone so far today and he started that “ he said that his first one went not to good”
and then I asked him why he said that which he responded with “he said his lawyers could have
done a little bit better with objections”. The last few questions I asked him was about what he
found hard in the case and he said “having to memorize all of the information that he was given”
What he said shows even with lots of preparation it is still hard to be completely prepared and
that you have to be flexible with what happens.

2024-11-21T14:43:28-06:00November 16th, 2024|District 2 & 7, District Conference, YG Media|0 Comments
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From Grief to Action: Wanda Waffle’s Legal Battle

A tragic death of 15-year-old Hazel Nutterson led to a widowed mother, Wanda Waffle, suing Herb Salt in the case of negligence and bodily harm against her daughter.

“When I read Wanda Waffle’s affidavit, I felt really sad,” Aminia Bhuyan said. “I understood her perspective. You have to understand their character, understand their perspective, like their side of the story, and convey emotions because that’s also impactful.”

Aminia is on the defense side for Wanda Waffle.

“She’s the mother, and she lost her 15-year-old daughter, Hazel Nutterson. She had no support because her husband died in a car accident when Hazel was nine—then you have to think about how she’s aware of Hazel’s allergies, but she knew that her daughter was passionate about becoming a pediatrician.”

When going into a mock trial, it is important to convey your character and really appeal to the emotions of the judge, just as a normal witness would.

“You need to present yourself with confidence to the other team because they’ve never seen you before, so you need to present yourself as someone who’s confident, someone who knows what they’re doing even if you don’t,” Mykaila Jackson said.

In this case, Herb Salt and Pepper Mint are involved.

“Herb is being perceived as someone who is irresponsible and negligent, and for Pepper Mint, she’s not viewed in a good light because she delivered the food to Hazel Nutterson and she didn’t double-check,” Jackson said.

This is a tragic case of a mother who simply had not enough time on her hands, someone who lost both of her beloved family members to things that were out of her control.

“Wanda Waffle is defending her daughter who tragically passed away recently,” Bhuyan said.

By Marley Nervais

2024-11-16T15:34:56-06:00November 16th, 2024|District 2 & 7|0 Comments
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Dress to Impress The Court: How YG Dress Code Requirements Affect Student’s Professionalism

The YMCA TX Youth and Government program aims to allow students to gain experience in government-related fields through mock trials. Participants will embody all roles of the court, including dressing the part. At YG district and state conferences, students are expected to dress as business professionals. This includes blazers, dress pants, ties, heels, and other clothing items that fit business attire. Although the dress code might be challenging for some students, attorney Violet Mann feels otherwise. “I love having to dress business professional, it brings me so much joy to walk into these competitions every year and see everyone dressed so professionally,” Mann said. She also added that dressing nicely can directly affect student performance at conferences. “I perform a lot better when I’m dressed the part, so I think that mandating this dress code impacts how seriously students take their cases,” said Mann. Attorney Janethza Ortega feels similarly. “I think [the dress code] affects the students in a good way because it helps you get into the role that you’re playing, and contributes to the overall professional environment,” Ortega stated.

By: Gracie Nelson, Liberal Arts Science Academy

2024-11-16T16:08:35-06:00November 16th, 2024|District 2 & 7, District Conference|0 Comments
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Teamwork Makes the Trial Work

Two sophomore attorneys shed light on the mock trial experience.
By Edy Wang, LASA High

Strict time constraints, introducing evidence, hearsay, impeachment; these and much more are all aspects that attorneys must juggle at once. For each Youth and Government Trial Court team, there are two attorneys, one representing defense and the other representing the plaintiff. This will be both Defense Attorney Diya Darshan and Plaintiff Attorney Bailey Williamson’s second year in Youth and Government. Diya has been an attorney both years while this is Bailey’s first time being an attorney, as she was an expert witness last year. For this season’s Nutty Negligence case, the defense will be representing Herb Salt, owner of the restaurant Herb’s Haven, and the plaintiff will be representing Wanda Waffle, a caring mother whose daughter with a deadly peanut allergy died from anaphylactic shock after eating from Herb’s Haven.

“It’s a very thrilling thing, especially in the moment.” — Diya Darshan

After closely reviewing the case, Diya and Bailey each have to come up with an argument for their respective clients. This must be done as soon as the YG season starts so that they will have time to comb through every affidavit and piece of evidence to start building their case. During competitions, attorneys open their arguments with their pre-written opening statements, introducing the court to their arguments and their perspective of the case. Then, one by one, attorneys call each of their three witnesses to stand for questioning and cross examine the witnesses of the other side of the case.

“The stressful part is whenever you have to respond to objections because there’s a very specific response that the judge is looking for.” — Bailey Williamson

During the entire trial, Diya and Bailey must carefully look for holes in their opponents arguments and respond to objections to their own case. After every witness has been thoroughly questioned, they will close their arguments with a closing statement, swaying the judge with an emotional retelling of the case, and then rest their case.

2024-11-16T15:27:32-06:00November 16th, 2024|District Conference|0 Comments
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Bill Passed to Make Election Day a Holiday 

By: Arav Sachan, Dripping Springs High School

A proposal to make each federal election day a state holiday passed Saturday at the 2024 YMCA Youth & Government District Conference at Akins High School.  Bills are the foundation upon which laws are built. They are formal motions toward enacting new laws or changing existing statutes. The purpose of a bill is to solve specific societal problems in such a manner that it provides an appropriate vehicle through which lawmakers may discuss and improve, and finally enact, changes in the law that reflect community needs and values. Filing a bill exposes issues of paramount importance to the legislature related to public health, education, economic development, or issues on social justice, which would consequently raise necessary debates amongst lawmakers, various other stakeholders, and the general public. 

Bills ensure good governance by way of transparency and accountability. They create ways in which ordinary citizens may have engagements in legislative processes and avenues through which public input and arguments are ensured. It is in this engagement that diverse consideration of proposed laws for their impacts on various segments of society is ensured. After approval by the legislature, the bill now becomes law with the right of the government to roll out new regulations, disburse appropriate resources, and apply enforcement. In all, bills remain one of the most critical tools in the design of the rule of law in society, democratic participation, and response to emerging challenges for adapting laws so that they are relevant and effective in the service of the common good.

2024-11-16T15:25:36-06:00November 16th, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Nutty Negligence Causes Nutterson Death

Local high school girl, Hazel Nutterson, dies after eating from Herb’s Haven.

By: Edy Wang, LASA High

One peaceful evening, Wanda Waffle and her daughter, Hazel Nutterson, decided to order in from the local restaurant Herb’s Haven for dinner. That twelfth of July, 2024, high school student Hazel Nutterson dies from anaphylactic shock after taking a bite of vegetable curry, leaving her family, friends, and community devastated. Now in an attempt to bring justice for her daughter, Waffle has now filed a lawsuit against Herb Salt, owner of Herb’s Haven, accusing them of negligence.
Herb’s Haven has been widely praised for their impeccable vigilance regarding the dietary restrictions of their customers, making Hazel’s untimely death a shock to their entire community. City Restaurant Inspector Salmonella was called to the stand to confirm the high quality care that the employees of Herb’s Haven take for allergen safety.

“Herb’s Haven is known by the city health inspectors for always getting an A++ rating during inspections.” — Sam Salmonella

Wanda’s BiteBuddy order had no allergens listed as Wanda had not checked the allergy checkbox on the BiteBuddy app. Wanda was not aware that BiteBuddy has a special box that must be checked to flag allergies on an order and had instead written in the special instructions area “Severe peanut allergy – absolutely no peanuts or peanut products”. In the first place, even without special instructions, Hazel’s vegetable curry was not supposed to contain peanuts but the supplier of the curry powder used changed their ingredients, an act that was not disclosed to Herb.
After considering the arguments presented by the defense and plaintiff, Judge Barnett concluded that Herb Salt is innocent. Ever since the tragedy of Hazel Nutterson’s death, Herb’s Haven has put in place much stricter protocols concerning their customers dietary restrictions, demanded that their supplier clearly discloses all possible allergens and implemented a double checking system for all meals flagged with dietary restrictions.
2024-11-16T15:14:03-06:00November 16th, 2024|District Conference|0 Comments
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Our Future Advocates

By Chloe Narvaez, John Marshall High School

As we know, the class of 2025 will be graduating in just a few months. They are obviously important roles for our upcoming future but what about the students who will be following them? It’s also important to hear their stories, lessons learned, and experiences in Mock Trial.

This student Angela Yepes is a Junior at Marshall and recently played the role of a judge in District competition ‘24. This has affected Angela in many ways, one being who she has surrounded herself with school wise. She says that her friend group comes from Mock Trial, she says they are close because of Mock Trial and it is something that helps them grow and learn together as close friends.

“I just feel like I’m more like, I’m more prepared for professional situations, so for my future, whenever I get a job etc.”

Angela says that Mock Trial has taught her to speak more professionally, become more comfortable in professional/serious settings, and just how to be more proper in general. She also says that Mock Trial has helped her feel more connected with other people in her classes, especially in the teamwork and collaboration part of it.

“Because when you’re an attorney for the past two years, you’re depending on other people to do their work, and they are depending on you, in turn, to do your own work. So it really taught me that I have to be responsible with my time, not only just for myself, but for others.”-Angela Yepes

While law is not a main focus in her future, Mock Trial has been something she says she feels interested to go into in the future, whether her senior year or in college.

“It definitely taught me that law might be something I’m interested in. It showed me that although I do feel a lot of pressure in that area, it is exciting to be in the courtroom, and I would actually really like to be in the courtroom in the future.”- Anegla Yepes

In conclusion, being in Mock Trial can help students by tapping into their skills, building confidence, and fostering a more complex understanding of the legal process. It also equips them with valuable life lessons and skills that they may even use in the courtroom 25 years from now. To end off the essay let me include the impactful words of advice from Anegla Yepes.

“Even though we’re all striving to get better scores than each other, we all have to remember to respect each other, and that in the end, we’re probably going to be working with each other so we should learn right now. We should learn and grow together, and should just focus on having fun too.”- Angela Yepes

2024-11-16T14:58:04-06:00November 16th, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Contrasting Experiences: Senior vs. Freshman viewpoints in Mock Trial

Contrasting Experiences: Senior vs. Freshman viewpoints in MockTrial

By Chloe Narvaez, John Marshall High School

It’s obvious that some experiences and journeys for Mock Trial can be different for everyone, especially between freshmen, and seniors/vets. It’s easy to think that one person’s opinions about Mock Trial can dictate the whole team’s view, but that’s not exactly true. For example let’s hear about Seniors Noah Willet, and Shane-David Burkeys opinions about District ‘24.

Seniors Noah and Shane-David come from Regents School of Austin, and their case was a case of negligence to a diners peanut allergy in a restaurant. While Noah was a defense attorney in this role he concluded the restaurant not guilty, and Shane-David who was defense and plaintiff in his role believes that the restaurant is liable. Comparing this to our freshman Daynira Esquivel who comes from John Marshall high school, she plays the role of a delivery driver for said restaurant and she pleads not guilty due to the fact that she was not the one responsible for the restaurant’s negligence.

“Well I’m the defense attorney, and I think that the restaurant isn’t guilty.”-Noah Willet

“…My role in this case was peppermint, which is the delivery driver for Herbs

Haven…My side of the debate would be not guilty, because the restaurant Herbs Haven failed to give the proper protocols and procedures for the negligence of the peanuts and that was out of my control.”-Dayanira Esquivel

Now while the three students all have different roles as far as the case goes, they both seem to have the same opinions on other things such as presentability. Both sides believe that proper and professional attire, strong speech, body language and behavior are very important factors to your image and how you present yourself to others around you. Both sides agreed that fashion and body language is an especially important factor.

“…You want to look formal  for this case, you have to treat districts as if it was the actual court case, like in real life, as if youre watching one of those documentaries where they are in the courtroom, giving an actual case, you have to take it seriously and professionally.”-Dayanira Esquivel

“If you’re wearing inappropriate clothing and you’re not being kind, then you’re going to get worse scores and you’re going to be less thought of so.”- Noah Willet

“How you present yourself, it says more about you than the case.”- Shane-David Burkey

While that is something the two sides agree on, the one thing they seem to see differently is the efficiency and system of running the comp. I myself don’t have much to say about the system but while our freshman Daynira has a good time, our seniors Noah and Shane-David have a different view.

“No, no…there should be no delay in who’s in what room and on what side. You shouldn’t be getting that information the morning of that information can be made available days before.”-Noah Willet

“At state you have second day ranked matchmaking, but here it’s all random, so there should be no delay.”- Shane-David Burkey

“The system would make me want to return because I realized that doing district was very very fun, and a great way to meet new people.”-Dayanira Esquivel

And while I only talked to these lovely folks for about 5 minutes each, it made me realize that the district competition is all about being grateful for experience and lessons, either for the first time or the fourth. In conclusion the senior and freshman experiences can illustrate the growth and development of the two classes. Seniors often lead with their own refined skills while freshmen bring in new viewpoints and enthusiasm. This simple dynamic can highlight the importance of mentorship and continuous improvement in Mock Trial and Texas Youth and Government as a whole.

2024-11-16T14:38:15-06:00November 16th, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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