NYC Law Department participates in mock trial with Brooklyn Latin School

August 25, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Students from the Brooklyn Latin School teamed up with members of New York City’s Law Department to compete in a mock trial competition. Pictured from left: Eseme Segbefia, Esela Segbefia, Nadja Igbal and Kofi Miller. Photos courtesy of the NYC Law Department

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The New York City Law Department continued an annual tradition when its employees helped students from the Brooklyn Latin School compete in a mock trial event this past June.

The Law Department employees helped train 12 students to take on roles as both attorneys at trial and as witnesses of the hypothetical event. The students were split into two groups, the prosecution and defense, and each had three “attorneys” and three “witnesses” as they argued in a Manhattan courtroom.

“[The NYC Law Department employees] taught us how to best question a witness, how to respond to a question and how to improve our speaking skills,” said Brooklyn Latin School student Eseme Segbefia. “They attended each of our competitions and practices. Despite being busy outside of mock trial, they responded to all of our emails quickly.”

Lauren Filipink, Anthony Stromoski and Gina Mautschke, leaders from the Brooklyn Latin School, made arrangements for the event. Martha Mann Alfaro, Evan Brustein, Jorge Camacho and Michael Pfautz from the Law Department trained the students for two to three hours each Friday to prepare for trial. Josh Lax and Pernell Telfort also contributed, and Tom Roberts served as the guest judge.

“I remember my first time performing,” Segbefia recalled. “My heart was beating rapidly. My hands were clammy and desperately grasping onto my note sheets. My feet shifted from side to side in an attempt to control my nerves. But when I spoke from behind the podium, I projected and showed confidence in my voice. And I launched into my role.”

The mock trial itself presented a case with a client named Kelly Roberts who was involved in a suppression hearing that included a warrantless search that turned up 20 oxycodone pills. It was the prosecution’s job to argue that the search was lawful, while the defense team had to prove that the doctrines that the prosecution’s side was using didn’t apply to the scenario.

“After every practice and competition, our coaches gave us tough feedback on our performance,” Segbefia said. “Not only that, but the team members also grew close as friends. We support each other in our wins and losses, we laugh at the most random things and we each have new friends from the experience. I completely intend on joining mock trial next year.”