Written By Laura Bartels and Anna Morielli

Fillmore High’s legal team made major strides during the Ventura County Mock Trial competition on February 23rd and 24th. In its third year, the team consisted of four seniors, six juniors, one sophomore and four freshmen. At the awards ceremony held at the Oxnard Civic Center, senior Hai Tran won Ventura County Third Place as art expert prosecution witness Bernie Worchester.

This year’s case, People v. Shem, involved the felony charge of grand larceny from the alleged theft of a railroad baron’s painting. The students portrayed each principal of the cast in a courtroom, including attorneys, witnesses, defendant, court clerk, and bailiff. The trial played out in real courtrooms at the Ventura Superior Court before actual judges and scored by Ventura County practicing attorneys.

The evening began with a pre-trial motion designed to exclude evidence gained by an illegal search. This year’s pre-trial motion focused on the Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless search and seizure -- “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects.”

The prosecution team, --Catherine Alonso, Paulina Guerrero, and Misael Ponce, shined in round one against Westlake High School and again in round four against Oxnard High School. Prosecution attorney for pre-trial motion, junior Tatem Forsberg, strongly presented the prosecution’s argument of why the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy for items he had consented to be searched. Tatem argued that once the defendant told the officer to “look around the apartment” it was reasonable that the consent extended to the storage unit assigned to the apartment. The officer only needed a “reasonable” belief that consent to “the apartment” would include ancillary uses of “the apartment” and that it would be unreasonable for the officer to ask the defendant every time for every area the officer wanted to search.

In a strong opening statement, junior Misael Ponce articulated the prosecution’s theory of motive, means and opportunity and tied the facts of the case to each element of the law of grand larceny. He laid the road map of how the prosecution would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Evan Shem was guilty of grand larceny:

Evan Shem was a grad student saddled with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt in pursuit of a dream. He hoped to one day become a renowned artist, but for that he needed a degree. The only problem was money. Money he did not have. Misael continued his story: The evidence will show that Mr. Shem took a position as an intern at Marty McCulloch’s mansion in order to gain access to the paintings, which Mr. Shem would then replicate, swap the original and sell. Detective Reese Barron will show that the theft of the painting was an inside job. Marty McCulloch will also testify that Mr. Shem had ready access to the painting on the night of the theft, and that he was in charge of locking up the gallery that night. Bernie Worcester a renowned art expert with 25 years of experience in art authentication – will show that the painting found in Mr. Shem’s apartment was in fact the genuine Treason. Charlie Gibbons will testify that Mr. Shem had an unnatural interest in Treason, and the skill to replicate paintings with exact detail, even just from memory. In short, your Honor, the evidence will show that Evan Shem is guilty of Theft by Larceny.

Junior Misael Ponce was nominated for the Best Prosecution Attorney award. Prosecution attorney freshman Paulina Guerrero was also nominated for Best Prosecution Attorney award and had stunningly strong scores for a freshman garnering a nice block of 4’s for her direct examinations and cross examination.

The Police Officer witness was played convincingly by senior David Cadena earning a coveted 5. Freshman Alexis Ruiz played the wealthy railroad baron Marty McCulloch, an art collector of Renoirs to Warhols, whose precious “Treason” by obscure painter Fletcher Yazoo believed had her painting stolen. Senior Wesley Brecheen was a key prosecution witness Charlie Gibbons, a jilted friend with a shady past.

Direct examination of prosecution expert witness Bernie Worchester, played by senior Hai Tran, earned an impressive three perfect 5’s by the scoring attorneys. Hai played an art expert and described Morellian analysis, named after 19th century Italian art historian Giovanni Morelli. Morellian analysis involves identifying paintings by examining the “signature” techniques of the artist in question, like brush strokes, thickness of paint and palate. Rounding out the prosecution team was senior Sara Beylik, whose job as Court Clerk was to keep the official time, a crucial role in a competition in which every second counts.

Fillmore’s strong defense team –Jacqueline Tovar, Alma Perez, Wesley Brecheen and Manual Gutierrez --hit the ground running in round two against Royal High School, and in round three against Adolfo Camarillo High School. Defense opened with a pre-trial motion to have the evidence of the illegal search suppressed. Back and forth verbal sparring between the Superior Court judge and defense attorney, junior Tatem Forsberg drew strong praise from scoring attorneys and admiration from the judge who peppered him with counterarguments. A persuasive argument ensued, ending in the defense motion being granted.

Attorney juniorTatem Forsberg earned perfect “5” scores for the team and was nominated by scoring attorneys for a Best Pre-Trial Defense Attorney award.

Sympathetic, accessible defense trial attorney, senior Wesley Brecheen, took control of the courtroom with a strong opening statement earning three perfect “5’s.”

It was the evening of the 4th of July. People were moving all about Professor McCulloch's mansion appreciating the fine art. Evan Shem, Professor McCulloch's hard working intern, was the docent that evening. He loved art and as a docent he expressed this love to the guests.

The following days are a blur, allegedly “someone” stole the painting Treason by Fletcher Yazoo. Professor McCulloch, who initially did not suspect Evan, nonetheless directed Detective Barron's attention to Evan.

Detective Barron arrested Evan Shem solely on the responses of Professor McCulloch: that Evan admired Treason, that Evan is a talented artist, and that Evan was a docent that evening and was to lock and arm the gallery that night. Just like that – NOTHING MORE, no further investigation -- *snap* of the fingers. A CLASSIC RUSH TO JUDGEMENT BY THE PEOPLE

The evidence will point to Charlie Gibbons as the real person of interest. Mr. Gibbons had the MOTIVE, OPPORTUNITY and MEANS to steal Treason. The evidence will show
• that Charlie Gibbons invited himself to the party,
• that Charlie Gibbons asked Evan to show him the gallery
• that Charlie Gibbons insisted that Evan show him the painting Treason
• that Charlie Gibbons wore a trench coat on a hot summer night
• that Charlie Gibbons was hard on his luck, no money, no place to live
• that Charlie Gibbons has a police record for stealing
• that Charlie Gibbons refused the police first request to search the apartment
• that at 9pm that night Charlie Gibbons was nowhere to be found

Witness T.M. Little, a past friend of Professor McCulloch, will attest to Evan's good character, Marty McCulloch's unreliability, and Charlie Gibbon's strange behavior at the party. Witness Sidney Ogden will attest to Evan's trustworthiness as well as a percipient witness to Charlie Gibbons leaving the hallway where the art gallery is located, when no one else was around. Witness Jamie Sardegna, a defense Art Expert who specializes in Modern Abstract Painters, such as Fletcher Yazoo, will give her expert opinion that the painting found in Marty McCulloch's mansion is indeed the authentic Treason... that in fact, the painting Treason never left the mansion... And hence your honor -- There is no crime!

But merely a rush to judgment based solely on faltering circumstantial evidence
Wesley Brecheen also garnered the respect of the scoring attorneys with a coveted nomination as Best Defense Attorney.

Poking holes in the prosecution’s case, the defense team was unstoppable, also earning 5’s. Defense attorney junior Jacqueline Tovar beautifully pulled together the closing argument with a perfect score:
Your Honor, tonight the Prosecution has failed to connect the dots from Marty McCulloch’s mansion to Evan Shem’s apartment --because there is no connection. The Prosecution’s case displays a rush to judgment and failed to properly investigate third party culpability.

On July 5th, Marty McCulloch wandered into her gallery and the only thing missing was an emotional connection to Treason. It wasn’t until AFTER MT’s Fine Art Auction House told her about an inquiry to sell Treason that she assumed the painting hanging in her gallery was a fake. With no photograph for comparison, relying entirely on her memory, she immediately called police. Marty McCulloch was emotionally distraught. She called Evan Shem assuming that he would understand her pain, but she didn't get the emotional support she was looking for. Marty McCulloch and Detective Barron only saw what was right in front of them, and jumped to a conclusion. But they failed to look deeper.

The day prior professor McCulloch hosted a party. Evan was the docent that night and was supposed to lock the gallery at 9:00 pm. Being too busy escorting guests and getting caught up in the fireworks show, the gallery slipped his mind. The gallery was left unattended for around 10-15 minutes. [Professor McCulloch confirmed that it's possible that any one of his 200 guests could have been in the gallery.]

On that night Charlie Gibbons was seen by Sydney Ogden leaving the hallway where the art gallery is located when no one else was around. That night, Charlie, who is homeless and broke, was wearing a tan trench coat. And with the help of that coat, Charlie, a known thief, was able to take Treason from its frame, replace it with Evan's replica and walk out with the original hidden in his coat. Being Evan's plus one his name conveniently wasn't on the guest list. This way he wasn't considered a suspect. In fact Charlie was NEVER considered a suspect despite the fact that he also had access to both the original painting and the replica with the help of his spare key.

When Detective Barron was assigned the case he first questioned Marty McCulloch and Charlie Gibbons. Both had plenty to say about Evan. The only suspect Detective Barron came up with was Evan Shem. Why? . . . because Evan Shem had a talent in replicating originals.

The Prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt all four elements of theft by larceny. First, the Prosecution failed to prove that the value of the painting was over $950. Marty McCulloch, the owner, admits it is not the most valuable painting in his collection by far, and he never intended to sell it, so he never had it appraised. Bernie Worcester, the Prosecution’s art expert, admits that he didn’t follow his own routine procedure for evaluating the painting. In fact, when he told a stranger on the phone that this relatively obscure painting might sell for $100,000, there might just as well have been a conflict of interest. If he gets the painting on consignment, he stands to get a commission, and would likely overestimate the price.

Second, the Prosecution failed to prove that the painting was removed from the owner’s possession. Jaime Sardegna, an expert on Fletcher Yazoo, testified that the original Treason never left Marty McCulloch’s art gallery. . . . , no crime has been committed here.

. . . , this is a circumstantial evidence case. If there are two or more reasonable interpretations of one instance, one pointing towards guilty and the others pointing towards innocence, the court must rule in favor of the one pointing towards innocence. The Defense has provided a reasonable interpretation of every point in the Prosecution’s case.

Evan Shem is a remarkable art student with a brilliant future ahead of him. He has always admitted that he replicated masterworks in order to improve his skills, and showed them to his mentor, Marty McCulloch.

He was a loyal intern. He consented to a police search of his apartment, where they found his copy of Treason, because he had nothing to hide.

. . . , Evan Shem has been wrongfully accused of theft by larceny.

The People have failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Therefore we respectfully ask the Court to find defendant NOT GUILTY.

Junior Jacqueline Tovar was nominated for the Best Defense Attorney and won the Most Valuable Player Award for Fillmore.

Sophomore Diego Rodrigues infused confidence and warmth into his performance as T. M. Little, a scorned business partner of the alleged victim of the theft. Senior Sara Beylik was unshakeable and graceful in her opinion that the painting found at Evan Shem’s apartment was the fake and the painting found at Marty McCulloch’s mansion was the genuine Treason. As art expert witness, Jaime Sardegna, senior Sara Beylik explained in detail the elements of connoisseurship, which is the method of studying and examining the stylistic techniques of the artist.

Sara’s ability to understandably describe the elements of the craft earned her a nomination as Best Expert Witness.

Junior Naythan Martinez captured the performance of defense witness Sidney Ogden with warmth and humor. Freshman Manual Gutierrez brought believability and credibility to his portrayal as the defendant Evan Shem. Manual endured an onslaught of intensive cross examination by Camarillo and because of his meticulous preparation was able to hold his own and earn a perfect 5.

Senior Wesley Brecheen earned the team’s highest scores, earning the team double points for his impressive opening statement and two 5’s. Due to the skill of the stellar witnesses and their top-notch attorneys, for both defense rounds, the court had no other choice but to find the defendant “not guilty.”

Freshman Mishell Beylik, playing the role of the Bailiff, impressed the scoring attorneys with her courtroom control earning a perfect “5.” Her command of the courtroom instilled confidence in the judge that his courtroom was in good hands.

At the awards ceremony at the Oxnard Civic Center, over half of the Fillmore team received impressive “Best of” nominations awards and over the two nights of competition earned eighteen perfect “5” scores. The team ended the competition solidly. The students owe their success to long hours of research, preparation and practice, including lunch time, after school, and weekends.

The coaching staff consisted of School Advisor and Attorney Coach Fillmore Dean Anna Morielli, and Attorney Coach Laura Bartels of Taylor, Scoles and Bartels in Fillmore.

A team of consultants provided the students with invaluable advice, including Jennifer Fitzpatrick former Fillmore teacher and past coach who generously donated her winter break for the team, parent Bill Bartels, student Nicholas Bartels, and community member Gerald Fitzgerald. Team parents: Silvia Perez, and Amelia Aparicio for transportation.

The team’s biggest fans were Gerald Fitzgerald, Paul Benavidez and Bill Edmonds of the Fillmore Lions Club. Support services were generously provided by Principal Ito, Barbara Lemons, Manual Halcon, the Fillmore Rotary Club for their generous donation of $500, the Fillmore Lions Club for their generous donation of $250, and La Fondita for their generous donation towards feeding the scrimmage teams.

According to team captain Jacqueline Tovar, “mock trial is a great leadership experience and public speaking opportunity. You learn life skills such as analyzing facts, articulating complex situations, speaking in public, research, improve your writing skills, and teach you about our legal system”. According to junior Alma Perez, “mock trial is a great way to form long-lasting friendships”. Past teams have gone on field trips to the superior court, the California Court of Appeals, the Juvenile Justice Center, and the Mock Trial Academy in Irvine. Sign up early to help your chances of securing a position on the team. Join the Flashes mock trial team of 2015-16.