Pop Rockin' Beats

Norah and Dad discuss the case of the exploding pop rocks, a/k/a this year’s high school mock trial case. Norah shares how she doesn't mind having her dad as a volunteer legal advisor for this year's team (even if her friends find him scary), and they talk through the basics of this year's case.

For this year's bangin' video summary of the mock trial case, visit the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education's YouTube page.

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Intro music written and performed by norah marie.

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Question? Ideas for a future episode? Email us at norahanddadshow@gmail.com.

Intro music written and performed by norah marie.

Transcript

Dad: 0:00

hey Nora,

Norah: 0:01

Hello Dad.

Dad: 0:03

why was the chicken acquitted of murder?

Norah: 0:06

I don't know,

Dad: 0:08

Because there was no evidence of foul play.

Norah: 0:12

Boo.

Dad: 0:13

what are we gonna talk about this week?

Norah: 0:15

Today we're talking about mock trial.

Dad: 0:30

Welcome back to the Nora and Dad Show. I am as always the dad with the bad dad jokes, otherwise known as John, and with my lovely co-host and daughter, not necessarily in that order. In that order. Order. Otter, uh,

Norah: 0:49

I'm Nora.

Dad: 0:51

She's Nora. Hey Nora. How are you?

Norah: 0:54

I'm great. How are you?

Dad: 0:55

You know, I'm doing okay. It was been kind of a crazy weekend cuz I was, I was Mia for the weekend.

Norah: 1:02

Do tell

Dad: 1:03

Do well, you know where I was.

Norah: 1:05

the listeners don't

Dad: 1:07

I took a quick trip to Philadelphia to visit with grandma and grandpa. they were supposed to come here for the weekend and some health issues, precluded them from doing that. And so I, got in my car and. And drove across the state of Pennsylvania to Philadelphia to spend a few days with grandma and grandpa. So it was a lovely weekend, but I missed you guys. And what better way to welcome myself home than recording an episode of the Nora and Dad showed. So how the heck are you?

Norah: 1:39

I am. I'm okay.

Dad: 1:42

You're okay? Just okay.

Norah: 1:45

I don't know. Allergies are kind of kicking my butt right now.

Dad: 1:48

Yeah, we need a good, like hard freeze that's gonna get rid of all the gunk that's in the air so we can get rid of the, the allergies. I'm with

Norah: 1:57

the weather's just been so inconsistent. It's been cold and then warm. And then cold. And then warm.

Dad: 2:02

I hate to break it to you,

Norah: 2:04

Well, and it's cuz we're

Dad: 2:05

here's the thing. You, you live in Cleveland

Norah: 2:09

I didn't choose that. Okay. That I No say in the matter

Dad: 2:15

fair point. Very fair point. but you live in Cleveland and fall's gonna do what fall's gonna do in Cleveland, which means it's gonna be like up and down and up and down until it gets but freaking cold for a few months.

Norah: 2:30

Yeah, but I don't wanna wait that.

Dad: 2:33

All right, well if, if you're in any luck, we'll have a really brutal winter and it'll get really cold and it'll stay cold for like four months and your sinuses will get some relief, until sometime in April.

Norah: 2:44

I hope, but then my No. Cause then you get colds in the winter, there's no solution,

Dad: 2:51

the solution is moving somewhere warm.

Norah: 2:54

but then it'll just get allergies all the time.

Dad: 2:57

Yeah. Allergies and wildfires and hurricanes and we don't,

Norah: 3:02

like my seasons.

Dad: 3:04

we really, Yeah, we don't really have it that bad up here weather-wise. It's just the pollen is, The pollen can be bad. and then it, and then when there's no pollen, it's cold and snowy, which I kind of like, but I guess other people's opinions might vary. I don't know. So, we've been seeing a lot of each other lately because I am the brand, well, not, no more brand spanking new, but at least new as of this year, legal advisor for the Lake Ridge Academy mock trial team. So we're hanging out a lot.

Norah: 3:36

Woo.

Dad: 3:38

How do you like having your dad as. I mean, not really mock trial coach, but I, I mean, I guess coach Co. Can. Is that a fair description, Coach? I coach.

Norah: 3:49

coach.

Dad: 3:50

So do you like, do you like having me as coach? Is that weird?

Norah: 3:53

I like making fun of you at practices. That's fun,

Dad: 3:56

Yeah, we gotta work on that.

Norah: 3:58

Hey, you called me a smart ass

Dad: 4:00

How are your teammates gonna respect me if you're always making fun?

Norah: 4:05

They, they're just scared of you,

Dad: 4:07

Why are they you? Why are they scared of me?

Norah: 4:10

Cause you're intimidating to them. I don't get it. I don't think you're that intimidating.

Dad: 4:15

we gotta work on that too, cuz I better be intimidating to you cuz

Norah: 4:19

Well, like you're intimidating like sometimes, but like if I just like, if you weren't my dad and I just saw you, I don't think I'd be intimidated by.

Dad: 4:26

yeah, I wanna know, you need to ask some of your friends like what it is about me that's intimidating cuz I don't think I'm all that

Norah: 4:32

Well, I think they just think everyone's intimidating.

Dad: 4:35

Like every grown

Norah: 4:36

cuz like you're like a lawyer. So like you, you're a professional, like, scary person.

Dad: 4:42

I don't just, I don't just play one part-time as a high schooler. I'm actually like a real honest to goodness lawyer

Norah: 4:47

Yes. Fun fact.

Dad: 4:48

who might, Fun fact, who might actually know a thing or two. Yeah.

Norah: 4:51

computer's about to die, so let me do that real quick.

Dad: 4:54

What.

Norah: 4:55

I've meant to plug it in, but then I forgot, and then I just got a little notification that said, Your computer is running low. Please plug in your pc.

Dad: 5:04

Should I sing for the listeners while we're waiting for you to plug in your

Norah: 5:08

part out.

Dad: 5:09

I could do that.

Norah: 5:10

don't think any singing needs to be sung

Dad: 5:14

No rose computers about to die while she's fixing it. I'll eat a piece of pie.

Norah: 5:27

we're good now,

Dad: 5:29

I'm no longer feeling blue like

Norah: 5:32

stop singing now.

Dad: 5:35

Nora's computers no longer about to die. Do we have any, do we have any listeners?

Norah: 5:40

No, that's why. So we should cut this out.

Dad: 5:44

I gotta hear back the song and see how it sound. I might keep it in that might, that might be our new theme. Music, The No's. Computer's About to Die.

Norah: 5:51

No, I like, I put a lot of work into the theme music we currently have.

Dad: 5:55

Theme music. Have we ever, I know it's in the show notes, but if we ever mentioned on the actual podcast that the theme music that people hear at the beginning is an original composition by our very.

Norah: 6:06

I don't know.

Dad: 6:07

I don't know how often people read the show notes, but yeah. Original theme music by our very own Nora Marie. Um, so your, so your friends are scared of me. That's wonderful. I need to work on that because I don't think I'm all that scary. Why don't you maybe talk for a minute or two, about this year's mock trial case.

Norah: 6:27

Is this like a quiz?

Dad: 6:29

No, God, you're not being graded. I'll, I'll fill in the blanks. Good.

Norah: 6:34

A tragedy has occurred at high school,

Dad: 6:39

Dump, dump.

Norah: 6:40

Trium High School. So there's this very important alumni breakfast and somebody, horrible student put unbranded popping candy into the eggs. Oh, no tragedy. This is a crime. Possibly. So then there's this whole debacle about who did it and who didn't do it. And um, the student body president Blair thinks that the student Stevie did it because they were called down for cheating on a test and they made like an incriminating statement being like, Oh yes, I did something stupid. However many nights ago, and that was the night before the alumni breakfast. So then they look into Stevie Moore and Stevie says more incriminating stuff like, Oh, the door was unlocked. How can you break into a place that's unlocked? Or, Oh, they'll never find evidence. It's on my phone. The problem is not whether or not Stevie did or did not commit such crime, it's whether or not Stevie was a part of a custodial interrogation. Because at no point during the time where Miranda writes right to Stevie, cuz there was a, a school resource officer there, who was in when for some part of the questioning behind a closed door, which could have been intimidating to Stevie and could have made them want to say stuff. Other people say that it wasn't in, you know, it wasn't an interrogation. And that's what the case is, is whether or not, the statements that Stevie made in the room with the principal, with, Blair and with the school resource officer, if those should be like suppressed for the actual like criminal trial.

Dad: 8:20

Yeah, so was it a custodial interrogation? Was Stevie owed their Miranda rights before being questioned by the Dean of students and or the school resource officer? So the part you're playing in the mock trial is whom?

Norah: 8:37

I'm Blair, the, uh, the student body President who dad does not like

Dad: 8:42

The gunner. Student body, president number two in the class at Trium High School to Stevie Conn, who's first in their class. And wants to be the valedictorian Blair is so I'm pulling up the witness statement.

Norah: 8:56

ohs.

Dad: 8:56

so, so, so, so mock trial, it's, it's a closed universe of information. You can only rely on the information that's in the actual case file. And Blair is, So obnoxious. My name is be Blair. I'm currently a junior at Trium High School. I consider myself a pretty good student. I mean, I keep my grades up and I'm super involved in the student organizations. I am president of the Student Government Association, which puts me at the head of the Trium High School Honor Board. I also serve as equipment manager and statistician for the Trium High School

Norah: 9:31

I don't like that word. I really hope I'm not questioned

Dad: 9:34

STA statistic.

Norah: 9:36

I thought it was stats esthetician. I was like, she, she's like a stats person. She's in high school. That doesn't make sense.

Dad: 9:43

Statistician keeps the stats, so wait, we're, we're get, we're getting to the best part. Ultimately, my goal is to graduate as valedictorian of my class next year and get a scholarship to Buckeye State University. I'm pretty sure I can meet that goal.

Norah: 9:58

I know a lot of people

Dad: 10:00

Stevie Conn is the only person in my class ranked higher than me academically. You could say we've been rival since kindergarten, but I think recently Stevie's been jealous of my success. Outside of academics specifically, I am almost certain that Stevie sabotaged the alumni breakfast that I, You're gonna get crucified on cross examination.

Norah: 10:20

I'm aware. But I did last year too. I mean, last year I was a criminal. That was my my background. So I think being a little obnoxious is a lot easier to handle.

Dad: 10:30

And then the alumni breakfast she talks about

Norah: 10:32

my grandmother's dentures cracked.

Dad: 10:35

guess I, I guess I can say she now, because you're, you're Blair, the witnesses are, are, there's no gender to the witnesses, so, but, so we're supposed to use non-gendered pronouns until, until the witness has a pronoun. And your pronoun is she, So, I'm gonna gender you as a she.

Norah: 10:49

Okay.

Dad: 10:51

And then she goes on about how hard she worked to put this alumni breakfast together and how it could really distinguish herself from everyone else. given the tons of important alumni invited to the breakfast, even some on the selection panel for several high profile local scholarships, and they would all know her name. It's all about networking for success. I mean, yuck.

Norah: 11:16

Okay. Well,

Dad: 11:18

There is nothing likable about Blair at all.

Norah: 11:20

No, but witnesses don't have to be likable to give information. It's not like we're in front of a jury and we're being judged

Dad: 11:28

that is true. There is no

Norah: 11:30

in a real court case. I don't think anyone would bring Blair. I think it would be stupid to, but the other two witnesses we could choose was the dean. And then this school research officer, they give you three witnesses for each side, but you can only bring two. And we thought the dean and the SRO brought the same information. So being Blair would bring something different. Also we didn't wanna have two authority figures on the stand because we're trying to prove that it was not an interrogation. And by only having authority figures, that doesn't work well for us.

Dad: 12:00

Yeah, it's, it's an interesting, problem to decide like who you're gonna, who you're gonna call, Um, Yeah, right. Um,

Norah: 12:08

Hey, it's, we're filming the day, or we're recording the day before Halloween.

Dad: 12:12

Oh, we are good. Okay. Well, solid point. Yeah, so it's an interesting problem to decide who you're gonna call because each side only gets two witnesses and there are three to pick from.

Norah: 12:24

Well, also a big part of it is who you have to play what? Characters like I, I mean, when I was talking with my team, my attorney was like, Well, yeah, I think you would just make a good Blair, which is part of the reason why we're bringing Blair, because I know how to talk around bad information,

Dad: 12:41

So your team, thinks you're a snotty gunner.

Norah: 12:44

that I can play a

Dad: 12:45

Uh, that, that you can play a snotty gunner,

Norah: 12:47

did it last year. I was the disgruntled employee who was accused of stealing from two restaurants and went to court for one of.

Dad: 12:56

thief.

Norah: 12:57

Hey, supposed thief.

Dad: 12:59

I'm glad that you don't think it's weird that I'm coaching your team. That makes me feel good.

Norah: 13:04

I mean, I don't really have a choice. Well, I asked you to coach like last year. I said, Would you be interested? And you

Dad: 13:09

You did, you did. There was a, some faculty turnover and they needed some new, some fresh blood to come in and both coach the team and assist and, and advise, give legal advice to the team. And so you, you did suggest it last year but it makes me feel good that you don't mind having me like, hanging out at school. With your friends helping out with your extracurricular activities, it's, it's, I always thought it'd be fun to be a teacher, so I think it's really cool that I get to help you guys out.

Norah: 13:36

I mean, I think, I don't know, it's nice, I, you don't get to complain about picking me up late anymore because you have to stay as late as I do.

Dad: 13:44

I do have to stay as well. I, I, yes, I do have to

Norah: 13:47

We have a more consistent time this year though. I feel like it ends on time so far. It's ended early actually,

Dad: 13:54

Right now, we've been in like the teaching phase of mock trial and we're, we're gonna in a couple weeks shift to the, like, practicing phase of mock trial. And I think the times will become a little more fluid at that point.

Norah: 14:04

Yeah.

Dad: 14:05

But you're feeling good with your, you're feeling good with your witness. We don't wanna say too much in case there are other mock trial teams listening to the, um,

Norah: 14:14

no cheating.

Dad: 14:15

to, to the old pod. We don't wanna give them a leg up strategically by knowing like how you're gonna portray your witness or what, or what you're gonna say, or what our, what our theory of the case is. But, you know, so far we've

Norah: 14:27

heavily incriminate myself and

Dad: 14:29

do that. Yes, you're gonna, you're gonna be like,

Norah: 14:32

at all.

Dad: 14:33

I have a confession. I did.

Norah: 14:35

I actually hate my grandmother, and I was the one who put pop rocks in the eggs just so her dentures would break.

Dad: 14:42

I will put in the show notes the. The, link to the Ohio, c l r e, Ohio Center for Law Related Education. Right? They're, they're the ones who run mock trial in the state of Ohio for high school students, and they put together a banger of a four minute YouTube video introducing this year's mock trial case with, uh, be Blair's grandma's statement after she bit into the pop rocks,

Norah: 15:20

I wish though Grandma was a witness. Ugh. I would get into costume. Do like old makeup?

Dad: 15:29

Alright. Nor Marie, where can people find you?

Norah: 15:33

At Nora Marie. Music everywhere.

Dad: 15:36

you can find me at John Hyman everywhere. we will be back in two weeks with another episode of the old Nora and Dad Show, Nora. Love you

Norah: 15:45

Love you too.