by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The 11-member team of high school students from various schools in Nassau County won Friday’s teen moot court competition at the County Courthouse, topping teams from Clay and Duval counties.
The competition was the first event on the Law Week agenda and judging by the teams and the support they got from parents and coaches, the first-of-its-kind event was a success.
“I have been involved with teen court for a number of years as a coach in Clay County and then a judge in Nassau and Duval and every year I am simply amazed at the level of participation, preparation and presentation of these students,” said Duval County Judge Angela Cox. “They were outstanding.”
Cox judged the competition along with Circuit Court Judge Timothy Collins and Nassau County Judge Robert Foster.
This year’s “case” was Jason Harwick vs. the State of Florida. Apparently, Harwick shot and killed a classmate when he was 17 years old, but is now an adult at the time of the trial. Harwick was accused of shooting the victim three times in the back, however he claimed self defense.
State Attorney Harry Shorstein opened the event and said he always knew he wanted to be an attorney and wished competitions like teen moot court existed when he was a student at Lee High School. He also said the creation of the teen court program in the Fourth Judicial Circuit several years ago has helped curb the amount of teenage crime in the circuit.
“We started the juvenile justice program in 1992 and I believe it’s the most comprehensive and successful program in dealing with teens in the United States,” said Shorstein. “The most important thing we can do in the entire court system is work with juveniles.”
Other team and individual winners from the competition include:
• Best prosecution team — Nassau
• Best defense team — Duval
• Best prosecuting attorney — Jake Vahaba (Nassau)
• Best defense attorney — Co’Relous Bryant (Duval)
• Best prosecution witness — Danny Lane (Duval)
• Best defense witness (tie) — Courtney Dragiff (Duval) and Kristopher Bagocius (Nassau)