The Rockhurst High School mock trial team took a decisive victory over St. Teresa’s Academy in the first round of districts as a part of the Missouri High School Mock Trial Competition on Jan. 29, 2026. The team scored 231 ballot points—the second highest total of any team in the first district round. STA totaled 203 points.
The “Mocklets,” as the team is known, successfully represented the defendants in the fictional case of Kennedy O’Neil vs. Adventure Holdings LLC.
Seniors Connor Clune and Liam Dennis, as well as junior Caleb Doyle, composed the defense counsel, while seniors Danny Murphy and Daniel Colombo, alongside freshman Rocco Mandacina, acted as witnesses. The Mocklets are coached by Dirk Lawson.
The trial, which ran for two hours and eight minutes at the Eastern Jackson County Courthouse in Independence, Mo., was judged by an attorney from the Missouri Court of Appeals. An intellectual property litigator served as the lone juror.
Five-minute opening statements from Caroline Clune, Connor’s younger sister, and Doyle gave an overview of the case from both sides.
“I like the content, because it really lays out the story,” Doyle said of his initial remarks.
Lawson, while giving feedback to the team, emphasized to Doyle the importance of strong delivery.
“It needs to be almost entertaining…not entertaining, because it’s not something that should be entertaining, but something that can catch attention,” Doyle said.
Opening statements were followed by a series of direct and cross examinations of witnesses. Direct examinations are questions posed to witnesses by the lawyer who called them, while cross examinations present the opportunity for a member of the opposing counsel to interrogate the witness.
Each side called three witnesses, and had a total of 30 minutes to conduct their three directs. Both sides were also allotted a combined 20 minutes to examine the testimonies of the opposing witnesses.
Doyle, Dennis, and Connor Clune handled their directs and crosses well within the time constraints in both aspects of the trial. STA hit their time limit for cross examinations when Caroline Clune ran out of time in her questioning of Colombo.
The trio of Murphy, Mandacina, and Colombo gave strong performances on the witness stand, working in tandem with the defense counsel and ceding little ground to prosecuting attorneys. As a part of the competition, witnesses memorize a deposition and effectively play a character in their attempt to bolster their side’s argument.
The cross examination of Murphy stood out in particular, consuming more than half of STA’s 20 minutes. Also notable was the direct examination of Colombo, acting as “J.W. Willis,” an expert witness that delivered compelling arguments just before closing statements.
Following a five-minute recess, the counsels returned for closing statements.
After a statement from STA senior Aspen Piggie, Connor Clune used every second of his allotted seven minutes to leave a lasting impression. Clune removed emotion from his plea, highlighting the testimonies of his witnesses and the holes in opposing arguments.
“You are not being asked to assign if this is a tragedy,” he said.
Following the trial, both judge and juror offered advice to both sides, points Lawson said will be incorporated into their second district matchup versus Park Hill South.
The Mocklets had over 40 objections sustained throughout the trial, regularly terminating opposing lines of questioning and preventing key evidence from entering the record.
“They were well prepared,” Lawson said of his attorneys. “They tripped up the opponents very well with their objections, and when they tried objecting, our lawyers had great responses.”
The Mocklets will now begin preparing the other side of the case. In the second round of districts, which take place Feb. 24, the team will argue the same case–but from the other side of the aisle.
“The plaintiff side is a challenging side, and it’s a little more difficult,” Lawson said. “We’ve got some work to do.”
If the team prevails they will advance to the regional round two days later.
