3-13-2025 4:24am

TOWSON V. FRANKLIN:

History in the making: Franklin High v. Towson High in Third Judicial Circuit Mock Trial Final

For the first time, two BCPS teams face off in the finals

Memorable verdict

For Catherine Snodderly, the hushed murmurs and rustling of suits inside Baltimore County’s historic courthouse in Towson must have seemed cacophonous compared with the beating of her heart and the chatter inside her head.

Had her team of attorneys-for-a-day from Franklin High School made all its arguments effectively and precisely? Had they woven passion and legal knowledge well enough to win the case before them? Had the other team, Towson High School’s high-powered students from its Law and Public Policy magnet, done better?

Whatever the outcome, the Third Judicial Circuit Final of the Maryland High School Mock Trial Competition had established one superlative already: for the first time ever, teams from two Baltimore County public schools – Franklin and Towson – had both made it to the final trial.

For the first time ever, teams from two BCPS schools – Franklin and Towson – had both made it to the Third Judicial Circuit Final of the Maryland High School Mock Trial Competition.

In an event crowded with talented public and private school squads from both Baltimore and Harford counties, that had never happened before.

“Personally, for me as the coach, I had a feeling that this was ‘our year,’ and I was actually pretty confident we would win, so I think I was more nervous than (my students) were,” said Snodderly, a social studies teacher at Franklin High. “They were just there to have fun. When we went into the back to tabulate the judges’ scores, I felt confident we were going to win.”

A courtroom scene

Learning the law

To get to that final on February 26, however, both teams had already persevered against talented competition. This year, the Third Judicial Circuit annual event pitted teams of legal eagles against one another from 24 Baltimore and Harford county high schools.

Mock trial competition statewide is set up based on Maryland’s eight judicial circuits, resulting in an “Elite Eight” regional champions, a final four, and then the state championship in Annapolis. In all, more than 100 public and private schools typically compete for the state honors each year.

The benefits are legion. Since at least 1987, the Mock Trial program in Baltimore County has provided students with the opportunity to experience a high-level understanding of both how the judicial system works as well as the work needed to achieve success in it.

“Programs such as Mock Trial preserve democratic government by training students to participate in the judicial system,” said Kevin Jenkins of the BCPS Office of Social Studies, who coordinates the countywide Mock Trial program. “They also develop in students research, teamwork, and presentation skills they can apply in college and in their careers.”

“Programs such as Mock Trial preserve democratic government by training students to participate in the judicial system. They also develop in students research, teamwork, and presentation skills they can apply in college and in their careers.” – Kevin Jenkins, BCPS coordinator of Secondary Social Studies

Franklin High's Mock Trial team

Towson High's Mock Trial team

During the mock trials, real Maryland judges, magistrates, and attorneys bring their professional experience to the proceedings, often presiding over and scoring trial matches contested in real courtrooms. BCPS partners from the legal community volunteer their time to provide teams with expert feedback and encouragement.

“The work of our Mock Trial students is inspiring,” Jenkins added. “They devote many hours to conducting research, developing arguments and testimony, and analyzing their own performances for future matches. They learn how to work productively in teams and their interactions with their opponents are models of respect and civil discourse.”

BCPS schools compete in a Third Circuit Mock Trial league, which is facilitated by the BCPS Office of Social Studies. The league has traditionally been dominated by Baltimore-area private schools, according to Jenkins, but not this year. “We are so proud of our students,” he said, “and we’re so inspired by their hard work and dedication to active citizenship and the rule of law.”

Franklin v. Towson

This year, the two teams enacted the fictional court case of State of Maryland vs. Dana Luna, with Towson representing the plaintiff – the State of Maryland – and Franklin going into legal battle on behalf of defendant Dana Luna. Based on a real court case, the State vs. Dana Luna trial concerned a high school student, Luna, who was accused of online harassment of a classmate, Danielle Benoit.

In the case before the student lawyers, Snodderly says, “Dana and Danielle participated in the student council election for president (at their school), and things got out of hand on social media. Our defense case rested on two major ideas – Dana Luna was not responsible for the online social media posts, and even if she was, the speech is protected by the First Amendment anyway, as it is political in nature.”

Towson’s battling student barristers were Inga Abramov, Kayden Cheikh, Lilly Creech, Jack Deise, Eva Finkler, Emerson Germack, Noah Ibrahim, Ben Kasofsky, Spencer Parsons, Jayla Patterson, Alexandra Powell, Jordan Salkeld, Michelle Wang, and Liliana Zavin. They were coached by social studies teacher Jason Aglietti, resource teacher Julie Kromsky, and attorney Bambi Glenn.

For the defense, Franklin’s ace student attorneys were Hannah Davis, Suhani Desai, Shawn Do, Gabriel Downey, Josef Ehrman, Polina Markelova, Kayla Martin, Bianca Morales, Anita Ogbeide, Hannah Olawepo, Grace Olawepo, Angie Perez-Lemus, Briana Sarfo, Brity Ullah, and Gabrielle Unger.

The students enacted the trial before the Honorable Circuit Court Judges Andrew Battista and Keith Truffer and Family Magistrate Dilip Paliath.

Snodderly said that the most rewarding part about mock trial for her students had been having to learn the law themselves – Federal Rules of Evidence, Maryland Pattern Jury Instructions, courtroom etiquette, and more. As one of the few teams without an attorney coach, she said, the Franklin students had to learn the law themselves “by reading and practicing.” They wrote their own opening and closing statements, direct examinations, and cross examinations, read and learned federal and state constitutional case law, determined what evidence to enter at trial, decided whether or how to object to testimony, and how to respond to opposing counsel.

“I have no legal education myself, so I learn alongside them,” Snodderly said. “My job is just to support them. It's been this way for five years since I became the coach, and I have maintained this entire time that this has been extremely valuable for the students. This program is designed for kids to learn and have fun.”

Ironically, Snodderly added, most of her team – who won spots on the team through after-school tryouts last fall – don’t plan on legal careers, despite their courtroom prowess. “Many of our students come to try out to improve their public speaking skills,” she said, “or because they are actors.”

Debating an attorney's objection

Cross-examining the defendant

Franklin High closing for the defense

Opposing counsel

The battle is joined

On trial day, the atmosphere inside Towson’s historic courthouse was “amicable,” Snodderly says. Students introduced themselves to one another and chatted animatedly as they set up their counsel tables. Nearby, “witnesses” prepared to take the stand.

But Snodderly said everything changed when the judges entered the courtroom and a bailiff intoned "All rise!"

“The atmosphere immediately turned from friendly to competitive,” she said. “Students became completely focused and ‘dialed in’ to the task at hand. As their coach, I was optimistic that our hard work this season was going to pay off.”

None of the students on her team was too nervous, she added. The team had never made it to the final round, “so the kids were really more excited to be there than anything. We were happy that we’d gotten this far in the tournament and wanted to enjoy the moment.”

Towson High student serving as attorney

Towson High closing for the prosecution

Witness examination

Questioning a witness

Watching the mock trial unfold, Jenkins was impressed most by the preparation and poise each team displayed, sometimes in unpredictable circumstances. “The attorneys and witnesses on both sides knew the facts of the case inside and out,” he said. “They were well versed on courtroom procedures to the point where they were able to conduct informed debates about objections to questions and the qualifications of witnesses.”

As student prosecutors and defenders parried and objected, Jenkins said he, too, got caught up in the moment. “The audience was riveted and hushed,” he said. “The match was so closely contested it was difficult to decide who would prevail.”

As she sat throughout the 2½ hour trial, Snodderly held fast to one idea: “This seemed like ‘our year,’ and I was prepared to take home a trophy,” she said. “We just needed to do everything we had practiced.”

A verdict, at last

The arguments went back and forth, each side pressing its points inside the stately courtroom. Point. Counter-point. Objection. Sustained. Objection. Overruled. Back and forth, each side went.

“When the trial ended, the outcome was in doubt, so the courtroom was filled with a sense of anticipation and suspense,” said Jenkins. “I actually announced the results, and there was a collective gasp in the courtroom when I revealed there had been a split decision among the scorers.”

The three-judge panel had split, but a tabulation of high scores on the panel’s tally sheets tilted towards a decision. Their verdict: Franklin High School had won its first ever Mock Trial regional championship.

Franklin High's team with the judges

The Towson students were respectful and reflective, Jenkins said; the Franklin students were jubilant and quick to honor and give credit to their coach. “In speaking with coaches afterwards, I sensed that both sides were pleased with how they performed,” he said. “What impressed me the most was that the trial was a model of how disputes are supposed to be settled in a democratic society. The students argued their cases with vigor but were respectful of one another and of the process.”

“What impressed me the most was that the trial was a model of how disputes are supposed to be settled in a democratic society. The students argued their cases with vigor but were respectful of one another and of the process.”– Jenkins

“Winning was the cherry on top for the kids,” Snodderly said. “I was ecstatic for the kids; I don't think they realized how good they were until it was announced that we had won. I think that now they really understand what a special, talented group they are.”

The next trial

There has been little rest for Franklin’s mock trial team since February 26. On March 12, the “Elite Eight” enter statewide quarterfinal competition, and Franklin will take on Howard County’s Centennial High School, the Fifth Circuit champions. Franklin’s legal team will, again, play defense.

Franklin’s team will prepare by reviewing trial notes taken by Snodderly and its prosecution team members, who attended the defense trial but did not participate. As before, they have met twice a week after school to practice.

But Snodderly and her team know that their success thus far is, in her words, “a pretty big deal.” As a coach not only of the mock trial team but of a sports team at Franklin, Snodderly said, “This is really more of an accomplishment than winning a county (sports) championship, or maybe even a regional championship, because the private schools compete alongside us for mock trial. They do not for sports.”

Win or lose, though, she knows that working with her crackerjack team of parttime student attorneys will always be a career highlight, and that their impressive mock trial run is one for the history books.

“I was extremely proud, but not surprised, by their success at the championship,” she said. “For us to have made it this far in the state competition, when the kids are essentially self-taught, I think is pretty remarkable.”

Footnotes: Longer photo caption for the Franklin High team photo. Bottom row: Angie Perez-Lemus, Kayla Martin, Bianca Morales, Catherine Snodderly (coach), Polina Markelova, Briana Sarfo, and Josef Ehrman. Seated: Anita Ogbeide, Shawn Do, and Gabrielle Unger. Standing in rear: Gabriel Downey, Family Magistrate Dilip Paliath, Circuit Court Judge Keith Truffer, Brity Ullah, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Battista, and Hannah Davis.