On December 18, 2025, the FHS Mock Trial club traveled to the Hartford Superior Courthouse to compete in the first round of the Connecticut High School Mock Trial competition. Due to the growing interest in Mock Trial at FHS, they were able to enter the competition with two full teams, Farmington White and Farmington Maroon.
Through this club, students interested in learning more about our judicial system have the opportunity to simulate criminal trials and compete against other schools across the state. Students spent the beginning of the school year auditioning for a role as an attorney or a witness and familiarizing themselves with the case. This year the case was the State of Connecticut v. Nic/Niki VanSteenBurg, a case loosely based on the reality tv show “Love Island”, and the defendant was being charged for second degree manslaughter.
After team assignments were completed, the club began its weekly meetings to prepare for the competition. Club members studied affidavits and exhibits from the case and collaborated in pairs of attorneys and witnesses to complete their direct examinations. Club Advisor Tyler Gleen along with Co-Presidents Junior Lily Torrens, and Senior Stella Huang and Vice President Ashley Yu taught lessons on important aspects of a trial such as opening statements and objections.
“Especially as a senior, it feels great to be given this opportunity to compete again. I hope that it also reflects the effort that we put in as a team these past few months when preparing for the trial. Making it to states for the second time in school history just shows how far the Mock Trial team has come and how invested the team was in the trial this year,” shared Yu.
On the day of the trial, the club took the bus from FHS to Hartford to compete. In the morning sessions, the prosecution teams competed against Classical Magnet School and Tolland High School respectively. Their defense teams entered the courtroom in the afternoon against Hall High School and University High School. The teams presented opening statements, direct examinations and cross examinations against another team while being judged by professional judges and attorneys. Lead attorneys were tasked with crafting closing statements during a five minute recess during the trial. While most find this one of the most stressful aspects, Junior Co-Captain Lily Torrens says this was her favorite part.
“My favorite part of the competition was delivering my closing statement. Nearing the end of the trial, I felt excited to give the final remarks we wanted the judges to consider during deliberation. I really felt at that moment that all the hard work our team has put in over these past few months had paid off,” shared Torrens.
The Farmington Maroon team emerged victorious, their prosecution winning with a score of 108-107 and their defense winning with a score of 108-93. While advancing to the next round is no easy feat, the teams intend to work diligently on their preparation to prepare for the state playoffs.
“With this higher level of competition, I want to ensure that everyone on our team is on the same page and can confidently present our case to the judges. We already have all our questions and statements written, but now it’s about making sure we improve our performance,” said Yu.
