The Tyrone Mock trial team lost in the closely contested trial against Bedford on Wednesday, January 26.

Tyrone lost the trial four ballots to one. However, the results were very close. The margin of victory for Bedford on all of the juror’s ballots combined was less than ten points, with two ballots being decided by two points or less.

The jurors, who were all attorneys practicing in Cambria County, commended both teams on their excellent preparation and presentation.

“It was a tough loss but I’m proud of the students who competed. We had a few students who could not compete for various reasons, so several members of the team had to step up and learn new roles on short notice, and they did very well,” said Tyrone Mock Trial Coach Todd Cammarata.

In this trial, Tyrone argued as the defense in the case of   The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Edi Arcaro.

The case involves the murder of Jonathan Pollard who ran a horse breeding company named Hyperion Farms. The prosecution claims that on the night of a Gala hosted at Jonathan’s house, his competitor and colleague Edi Arcaro murdered him with an antique sword that belonged to Pollard. There were no witnesses to the crime, but Arcaro was charged based on several key pieces of circumstantial and forensic evidence.

The attorneys for Tyrone are senior Mario Grugan, junior Ashlynn McKinney, and sophomore Bryanna Britten. The Tyrone Defense witnesses were sophomore Alysa Wheland, junior Abigail Kaspick, and sophomore Benjamin Knarr. They argued for Edi Arcaro’s innocence.

The best attorney award went to junior Ashlynn McKinney and the best witness award went to sophomore Alysa Wheland.

“Given the time shortages, and the two-minute direct examination, I was very surprised to win the best witness award,” said Wheland.

While the loss against Bedford was unfortunate, the team still has a trial to compete in before the end of the regular season.

This season was a challenge for the team, as they lost four members before the first trial making the loss a little more expected. Overall, the trial went as expected as the team was also unable to compete in two of the pre-season tournaments that it normally does.

“This was our second year of competing virtually, and COVID really affected our preseason tournament schedule, which is also less than ideal. Hopefully, we will be back in person next season,” said Cammarata.

Mock trial allows students to participate in simulated civil and criminal trials against students from other schools before actual judges and juries. Local lawyers and other law professionals volunteer to assist as team advisers, judges, and jurors. The competitions are sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

While learning about the law is a central part of mock trial, students do not need to be interested in pursuing a career in the field to join. Each trial is an exciting way to out-smart your opponents in a battle of wits. Students interested in acting would enjoy being a witness, in which students portray a character in the trial. Students interested in the law, or those who just like to argue, would probably make good attorneys.

The team takes on Forest Hills as the prosecution on February 16.