The Kingswood Oxford team, which includes five West Hartford residents, compete in the quarterfinals of a statewide tournament after prevailing over other schools in a regional round.

Kingswood Oxford’s Upper School Mock Trial team won both sides of the argument at the regional level of a statewide competition, and will now advance to the quarterfinals in January. Submitted photo

Submitted

For the second year in a row, Kingswood Oxford’s Upper School Mock Trial team will compete in the quarterfinals of a statewide tournament after prevailing over other schools in a regional round.

The Wyverns’ prosecution and defense teams both won their arguments against two teams from Bethel High School in the first level of the statewide CT CivicsFirst mock trial tournament at Danbury Superior Court on Dec. 8.

This year’s fictitious case involves a car crash, a party-hopping teen, and a pregnant attorney who, after crashing her car, delivered a stillborn baby and was partly paralyzed.

KO’s defense team was led by attorneys Grace Amell ’17 of West Hartford, Chris Healis ‘18 of Windsor, and Mia Seymour ‘19 of West Hartford. Emma Ouellette ’18 of Avon, Noa Boyd ‘18 of West Hartford, and Andrew Holland ’19 of West Hartford served as defense witnesses, while Matt Safalow ’19 of Rocky Hill was timekeeper and bailiff.

KO’s prosecution team was led by attorneys Robert Downes ’18 of Rocky Hill, Thomas Betts ‘19 of Wethersfield, and Michael Autorino ‘19 of Glastonbury. Amanda Civitello ‘17 of Wethersfield, David Marotollo ‘18 of Wethersfield, and Kevin Augustine ‘18 of South Windsor were witnesses, while Jack Livingstone ‘19 of West Hartford was bailiff, and Julia Lantieri ‘18 of Glastonbury was timekeeper.

The team is coached by Ryan Costantini, an attorney for Sikorsky Aircraft.

The CT High School Mock Trial Tournament, which was founded in 1976 by CivicsFirst, each year attracts more than 700 students from over 50 high schools in Connecticut.

Kingswood Oxford School, the preeminent independent day school in the Greater Hartford region, is located at 170 Kingswood Road in West Hartford, just steps from Blue Back Square and West Hartford Center. The 507 students come from 62 towns in CT and western MA, as well as China and South Korea. Head of School Dennis Bisgaard is celebrating his tenth year as Head.

The school is conducting interviews for September 2016 enrollment; only those applications completed by Feb. 1, 2016, will be eligible for merit scholarships. For information or to schedule an interview, call the Admissions Office at 860-727-5000.