Covenant Day Mock Trial

Congrats to mock trial club member Melissa Coffey!

We are super excited for the upcoming Mock Trial Season! On Friday, NCMTP released this year’s 1st-degree Murder Case, The State of Utopia v. Fran Lewis. Thank you to all the volunteers who have made this possible!

The next introduction is for Coach Amy Cox Gruendel. Coach Amy has been an attorney in Charlotte for over 20 years. During her career, she has used her law degree in many different ways: civil litigator, employment law attorney, Legal Aid lawyer, and law school professor. She now provides mediation, arbitration, and other dispute resolution services for civil matters through her company, RESOLUTION, which she created in 2013. Coach Amy is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Boston College Law School. Her daughter, Josie Mae, graduated from CDS in 2023. Her son, Jack, is a CDS Freshman this fall. Stay tuned for the introduction of our other fantastic coach, Shannon Coffey!

We will introduce our two outstanding coaches and dedicated student leadership in the coming weeks. Today, we start with introducing the President, Luke Murray! Luke Murray is returning as the CDS Mock Trial President for the 2023 Season. Mr. Murray has 3+ years of experience, including acceptance to Furman's Top Mock Program and serving as the Team Captain of the 2023 Gaston Regional Championship Team. Mr. Murray also works as a Legal Intern for a local attorney and will continue his passion for Law next summer as an intern in Washington, DC. He plans on competing at the College level next year. Stay tuned for tomorrow's introduction of Coach Amy Cox Gruendel!

Congratulations to Team Captain Luke Murray on his acceptance to Furman University’s Top Mock. Top Mock is a one week summer program for the top 12-16 high school mockers in the United States. The program is designed to teach advanced skills and strategies to the top mockers in the country. Congrats Mr. Murray and may all glory be to our Father for all the opportunities he provides.

After winning the regional competition, Covenant Day Mock Trial team litigated in Raleigh at the North Carolina state competition to represent NC in the National Mock Trial competition. Hayden Duncan, Luke Murray, Melissa Coffey, Calvin Lokas, Audrey Metzger, Matthew Lye, Mixon Lee, and Marshall Krupa delivered strong trials against NC's top teams March 17-18. While only one team could win the state competition, Mixon Lee won best witness award, Matthew Lye won the best attorney award, and Madalyn Bradley won first place in the courtroom artist competition. Madalyn will continue to the National courtroom artist competition in May. Special thanks to our amazing coaches, Steve Gruendel, Amy Cox-Gruendel, Shannon Coffey, and our Captain Luke Murray. Thank you for the support of all our team parents and may all glory be to our Father for exercising the gifts mock trial allows us to use.