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The St. Louis University High Mock Trial teams gathered at the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton this week to represent their side of the case regarding the death of young James O’Neill. Each of the teams studies their case for months in order to prepare for this event, and now, we get the chance to hear insider knowledge on how the event was structured and carried out. 

This year’s fictional case involves James O’Neill, a 19 year-old man who expected a nice, normal day at Dragon’s Bay theme park in Southfield, Missouri in June 2024. Unfortunately, tragedy struck as James was riding “The Flood,” a log flume ride at the heart of Dragon’s Bay, owned by Adventure Holdings, LLC. While the ride was in motion, James fell to his death as onlookers watched. Luckily, this tragedy didn’t go unseen, as James’ father, Kennedy O’Neill, is suing the amusement park for killing his son. 

Some students acted as lawyers, defending their side of the case and trying to obtain the truth of what happened. Others are witnesses that played fictional characters such as Kennedy O’Neill who are there to provide evidence for their respective sides of the case.

Lawyers, the most difficult role, interrogate a witness from their own team in direct examination to lay background for the judge and the jury, who have no prior knowledge of the case before the Mock Trial. Then, the attorney interrogates somebody from the opposing side in cross examination to try to get something important about the case out of the witness for the jury to hear in order to influence their verdict. 

Being a witness, however, requires a completely different set of skills. Unlike lawyers, witnesses have to completely embody their character, working from a slim three- to four-page deposition. The depositions are a character’s background information as well as their version of the events. Obviously, three to four pages can’t cover the entire background and history of the character, so the “actor” has to extrapolate from what they know. 

Junior witness Jack Siegal embodied the pain of the grieving father who had lost his son.

“You really have to be the character,” explained Siegel. “I would tell myself  ‘you are Kennedy, you are Kennedy.’”

Just like any witness, Siegel was battered with questions from the opposing team during their cross examination. They inquired about the dare-devilish nature of the deceased boy, ruthlessly trying to blame him for the amusement park’s negligence in having inadequate safety restraints. They also tried to attack Kennedy’s own wife, the mother of the dead man, by saying that she’s just trying to get paid. However, Siegel held up through all the scrutiny, refraining from letting anyone tell him that his son was at fault. At the end of the trial on Tuesday, Siegel received the “Outstanding Witness” commendation from the opposing team.

In a month, the Mock Trial team will switch sides and defend the amusement park, allowing students to investigate the case from two different perspectives and discover the ways in which both of them could be right or wrong. The team with the better preparation, better lawyers, and better witnesses, will come out on top. 

The SLUH coaching staff, with teachers like social studies faculty Timothy O’Neil, allows this Mock Trial team to stand out year after year. 

“It overlaps a lot with the skills and things I teach in my history class. There’s a lot of overlap with social studies and the law in Mock Trial,” O’Neil explained. “I know a lot of my students who are interested in social studies look for futures in law.”