Billings v. Pearson: Comprehensive Mock Trial Reference and Study Guide

Administrative Overview and Case Introduction

• Case Title: Alex Billings v. C.J. Pearson and Metro City School District (MCSD).

• Educational Background of Case Development:   - Developed by the D.C. Street Law Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center.   - Prepared by Sarah Medway, Clinical Fellow.   - Conducted in conjunction with Richard L. Roe, Program Director and Professor of Law.   - Distributed by Street Law, Inc. for non-commercial academic use.

• Legal Grounds:   - Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) against C.J. Pearson.   - Negligent Supervision against the Metro City School District.

• Relief Requested by Plaintiff:   - $75,000$ to cover tuition for St. Joseph Academy (SJA).   - An award for pain and suffering as authorized by New Columbia Civil Code $\S 4372$.   - Formal update to the King High School (KHS) Anti-Bullying Policy to specifically include cyber-bullying.   - Founding and provision of bullying prevention training by MCSD to its $75,000$ students.   - $20,800$ to cover one year of therapeutic treatment ($200$ per visit, $2$ visits per week for $52$ weeks).

Stipulated Facts and Timeline

• Institutional Context: King High School (KHS) is a public high school in the Metro City School District (MCSD), located in Metro City, state of New Columbia. The school has a total enrollment of $5,125$ students.

• Initial Interaction: Alex Billings and C.J. Pearson met during freshman orientation held between August $16\text{th}$ and August $18\text{th}$, $2010$. They exchanged cell phone numbers and connected on MyFace.

• Educational Context: Classes began on August $23\text{rd}$, $2010$. Both students were in the same freshman English class.

• Escalation: On the evening of August $27\text{th}$, the two met at a musical all-ages Go-Go club.

• Communications Volume: Over the following three months, Pearson and Billings exchanged more than $2,400$ text messages. Some messages were sent during school hours, despite KHS policies prohibiting cell phone presence on campus.

• Digital Platforms: Substantial interaction occurred on MyFace. KHS blocks access to MyFace on all school computers and prohibits student access.

• Administrative Intervention-Counselor: On November $1\text{st}$, $2010$, Ninth Grade Counselor Cook called Billings to discuss poor attendance and grades. Billings mentioned a problem with Pearson. Cook emailed Principal Li that day and spoke to Pearson on November $10\text{th}$, $2010$.

• Parental Discovery: On December $1\text{st}$, $2010$, Francis Billings discovered Pearson's MyFace postings and confronted Principal Li the same day.

• Withdrawal and Transfer: Following the confrontation, Alex was withdrawn from KHS. On the same day, the family visited St. Joseph Academy (SJA) and met Dr. Gabriel/Gabriella Rodriguez. Alex enrolled at SJA on December $6\text{th}$, $2010$.

• Financial Obligations at SJA: Billings was charged $15,000$ for the remainder of the $2010\text{-}2011$ school year and is subject to a rate of $20,000$ per year thereafter.

• Legal Protection: On December $2\text{nd}$, $2010$, Francis Billings obtained a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against C.J. Pearson.

Claims, Defenses, and Witness List

• Billings' Claims:   1. Pearson's messages and MyFace postings constituted bullying under KHS policy.   2. Pearson's conduct was extreme, outrageous, and intended to cause emotional distress.   3. The conduct caused severe emotional distress, contributing to school avoidance.   4. The report to KHS administration was adequate.   5. KHS failed to respond adequately to the reported bullying.   6. KHS exhibited unreasonable, insufficient supervision.   7. Injury (severe emotional distress) was a reasonably foreseeable result of KHS's failure.

• Joint Defenses (MCSD and Pearson):   1. The messages and posts do not meet the definitions of bullying in KHS policy.   2. Conduct did not rise to the level of "extreme and outrageous."   3. No severe emotional distress occurred, or if it did, it was caused by unrelated factors (e.g., video games).

• Plaintiff Witnesses:   - Alex Billings (Plaintiff)   - Francis Billings (Plaintiff's Parent)   - Dr. Gabriel/Gabriella Rodriguez (School Psychologist at SJA)

• Defendant Witnesses:   - C.J. Pearson (Defendant student)   - Justin/Justine Cook (KHS School Counselor)   - Brendan/Brenda Li (KHS Principal)

Detailed Witness Testimony: The Plaintiff

• Alex Billings:   - Age: $14$ years old.   - Claims orientation leaders taught students to give fake parent phone numbers to the attendance office.   - Relates the go-go club incident on August $27\text{th}$ as the start of verbal abuse.   - States that the English teacher ignored or laughed at Pearson's name-calling in class.   - Reports feeling like "garbage" when receiving sequences of up to $10$ text messages from Pearson.   - Identifies a MyFace group created by Pearson dedicated to "joaning" (teasing) Alex; over $300$ students joined by November.   - Admits to playing video games all night to beat levels while staying home from school.   - Asserts that Cook promised to get back to them but never did after Alex showed Cook a text message.   - Expresses fear upon seeing a post involving a gun on MyFace.

• Francis Billings:   - Occupation: Day manager at Freshfield Grocery.   - Status: Divorced, four children total.   - Noted a change in Alex in late September; Alex was playing video games in the middle of the night and expressed a lack of care for grades.   - Learned of the MyFace material through a call from another parent right after Thanksgiving.   - Discovered Alex had missed more days of school than (s)he had attended; received no notification from KHS.   - Paid a $500$ check for the SJA tuition deposit.   - Emphasizes that video game obsession was a symptom, not the cause, of Alex's problems.

• Dr. Gabriel/Gabriella Rodriguez, PhD:   - PhD in school psychology from The University of Santa Fe (via online program).   - Thesis: Juveniles exhibiting PTSD symptoms.   - Position: SJA school psychologist and head of recruitment committee.   - Notes SJA charges $20,000$ per year ($80,000$ for $4$ years), lower than the private average of $29,000$.   - Diagnosed Alex with PTSD on December $2\text{nd}$, $2010$.

Detailed Witness Testimony: The Defendant

• Justin/Justine Cook:   - Education: Bachelor's in School Counseling from University of Virginia.   - Caseload: $1,500$ freshmen at KHS (total school enrollment $5,000$).   - Primary author of the KHS bullying policy; believed off-campus activity was beyond school jurisdiction.   - Recalls Alex being agitated, red-eyed, and fidgety during the November meeting.   - Explains advising Alex to ignore the meanness as a part of "growing up."   - Sent an email to Principal Li on November $2\text{nd}$ and received a response on November $9\text{th}$.   - Admitted that following up with Alex slipped to the bottom of the to-do list due to spring scheduling tasks.

• Brendan/Brenda Li:   - Education: Bachelor's (Mt. Holy Oak College), Master's in Ed Admin (University of New Columbia), currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Management (Kern University).   - Argues cyber-bullying concerns are illustrative of being "overly sensitive."   - Mentions intervening in a previous case where students created a "Our Math Teacher Is Dumber Than a Hamster" page due to impact on teaching performance.   - Claims Pearson was suspended twice in junior high for spray-painting graffiti.   - Argues that public school funding for a Christian school is unconstitutional under the separation of church and state.

• C.J. Pearson:   - Freshman at KHS.   - Admits to making fun of Alex's clothes (described as an outfit from $1995$).   - Describes a prank played on another student, James Thomas, by putting a swimsuit picture on his computer homepage.   - States (s)he became "meaner" in posts after Alex "snitched" to the counselor.   - Expresses concern that the lawsuit will hinder chances of getting into a good college.

Statutory and Case Law

• **New Columbia Civil Code$   - $\S 2211$ (Negligent Supervision): School district is liable for foreseeable injury of a minor if unreasonable/insufficient supervision was the proximate cause.   - $\S 5500$ (IIED): Liability for intentional/reckless engagement in extreme/outrageous conduct causing severe emotional distress.   - $\S 4382$ (Apportionment of Tort Damages): Damages may be divided based on relative fault of all parties.

• Key Case Law:   - Tracy v. City of Woodson: School held liable for negligent supervision when student was attacked with a hammer/knife on school property because security was absent from posts.   - Wesley v. Jones: Defendants found liable for IIED for screaming vulgarities and using binoculars to watch neighbors for $1.5$ years.   - Tinker v. Des Moines School District: Use of black armbands is protected unless it "materially disrupts" classwork or invades rights of others.   - Lemon v. Kurtzman: Established the three-question rule regarding the separation of church and state: (1) Religious purpose? (2) Advancement of religion? (3) Excessive entanglement?

Exhibits and Evidentiary Material

• Exhibit A (Text Excerpts):   - pearson ($8/24$): "Where'd u get those jeans from - mama's closet?"   - Pearson ($9/2$): "Looked like u conditioned your hair with gunk from the Louisiana oil spill."   - Pearson ($10/3$): "Nobody likes u. U have no friends."   - Pearson ($10/15$): "Alex, u r the dirtiest looking person I have ever seen."

• Exhibit B (MyFace Group - "I Hate Alex Billings!!"):   - Posts include claims Alex smells like the "X2" bus or the train station.   - Post by Toni Alvarez ($11/18$): "Watch out Alex! Im gonna trip you in the hallway."   - Pearson post ($11/23$): "Stop coming to school, Billings. No one wants you here."   - Pearson post ($12/1$): A post captioned "THIS IS FOR YOU" with a picture of a gun.

• Exhibit C (City Express Article):   - Defines "Bamma" as a person with no style or class.   - Defines "Go-go" as a subgenre of funk music originating in the mid to late $1970\text{s}$.   - Defines "Joaning" as putting down or making fun of someone.

• Exhibit D (Anti-Bullying Policy):   - Implemented August $1$, $2003$.   - Defines bullying as acts occurring on school grounds, events, or vehicles.

• Exhibit E (Cell Phone Policy):   - Prohibits all usage and states phones will be confiscated.   - KHS is not responsible for administrative time spent on cell phone-related incidents.

PTSD Diagnostic Content (Exhibit G)

• Metric 1: Traumatic Incident: Alex experienced a threat (gun picture) and responded with horror (school did nothing).

• Metric 2: Re-experiencing: Symptoms include frequent thoughts and memories.

• Metric 3: Avoidance: Alex skipped school and didn't tell a parent for a time.

• Metric 4: Hyperarousal: Alex exhibited a difficult time staying and falling asleep.

• Duration: Symptoms lasted for more than one month.

• Functional Impairment: Level of impairment rated as "Moderate to Severe" on Alex’s Diagnostic Test dated December $2\text{nd}$, $2010$.

Simplified Rules of Evidence (Appendix B)

• Rule 1 (Leading Questions): Not permitted on direct, permitted on cross.

• Rule 4 (Hearsay): General prohibition on statements made outside the courtroom.   - Exceptions: (1) Statements made by a witness in the case to another; (2) Statements by deceased individuals.

• Rule 6 (Opinions): Limited to experts, except lay opinions based on common experience (e.g., whether someone appeared drunk).

• Rule 7 (Ultimate Issue): Witnesses cannot testify as to the actual guilt or liability of a party; that is the judge's role.

• Procedure 1 (Introduction of Evidence):   1. Mark for identification.   2. Show to judge.   3. Show to opposing counsel.   4. Ask witness to identify.   5. Final motion to move into evidence at the end of examination.

• Procedure 2 (Impeachment): Used to show a witness is not believable via prior conduct, criminal convictions, or contradiction of factual statements in their affidavit.

Your Honor, esteemed members of the jury, today we bring forth the case of Alex Billings against C.J. Pearson and the Metro City School District. This is not merely a case of words but a stark reality where repeated bullying has led to severe emotional distress and an environment of fear for a vulnerable student. We will demonstrate how Pearson's relentless harassment through derogatory text messages and posts on a social media platform has adversely affected Alex's life, resulting in withdrawal from school and the need for therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, we will reveal how the Metro City School District failed to take adequate measures to protect Alex, contributing to the ongoing trauma. Our evidence will show that Alex's experience is not an isolated incident but one that demands accountability and reform in school policies. We will present compelling testimonies from witnesses who will affirm the impact of this harassment and the negligence that allowed it to continue unchecked. We ask you to listen carefully, to weigh the evidence, and to deliver justice for Alex by finding the defendants liable for their actions and inactions that led to this suffering. Thank you.