2003 YMCA Mock Trial

Declaration of Quinn Carpenter

***TO BE USED ONLY FOR PURPOSES OF THE PRE-TRIAL MOTION***

***DECLARATION MAY NOT BE USED DURING THE ACTUAL TRIAL***

I, Quinn Carpenter, hereby declare as follows:

My true name is Quinn Carpenter. I am 18 years old. I was born on March 17, 1984. I graduated from Rock Haven High School in June 2002. I am going to the University of Washington in September.

I played with Taylor Garrison on FC Ignition this past season. It was my first and only season with the team, and I was the only new player selected from the try-outs. We won the state championship at U-18 by beating FC Red Dog, 1-0. I did not play much during the regular season but got to start in the semi-final and championship games of the State Cup (U-18 State Championship).

My father, Jerry Carpenter, is a sergeant with the Maradona County Police Department. Sergeant Carpenter suffered a ruptured disk in his lower back four years ago while leaping over a chain link fence during a foot chase with a fleeing burglary suspect. He never fully recovered from back surgery and has been re-assigned to administrative duties since returning to work. He is not always an easy father to live with. He is a militaristic disciplinarian. He suffered some depression during rehabilitation and has been mildly depressed about being relegated to the desk.

After the Police started the investigation against Taylor, Dad told me that one of his detectives was working on the case. I mentioned to my dad that Taylor’s player journal contained lots of references to Alex Chavez that were made during the week before the championship game. My dad questioned me about the journal every day for a week and suggested that I should get the journal and show it to him. Dad promised that no one would see it but him. Dad was always lecturing me about doing the right thing. I could not believe that he could not understand my position: Teammates should not rat on each other. He told me the journal was not that important because the prosecutor already had a strong case for assault against Taylor. But he still wanted to see it.

I did not want to do it. But dad kept hounding me about it all week. Every night at dinner Dad interrogated me about the journal. He accused me of being disrespectful to him and his badge for not wanting to assist law enforcement and lectured me making the right decision. He said some of the choices adults have to make are not going to be popular with our friends, but we need to make them anyway, just because they are the right decisions to make. He said I was an adult and this was one of those tough decisions I had to make.

By the day of our post-season team party, the pressure was getting intense. I kept pacifying my Dad, telling him I did not know where the journal was, even though I knew it was probably in Taylor’s backpack in the trunk of his/her car.

I think I was the only member of the team who saw Taylor’s journal, and that was only because s/he used it to teach me how to use a journal for self-motivation in big games. I watched him/her make some of the entries about Chavez and s/he showed me his work. Due to an injury to our outside midfielder during the quarterfinal game, I was told I would be starting the semi-final match. Emotionally, I was excited and horrified, and Taylor knew it. Taylor shared his/her journal entries with me to get me “stoked” for the game.

Every member of FC Ignition is required by Coach Jacobs to maintain a personal journal. The primary purpose is to promote psychological preparedness and track personal development. Coach likes to use an old Yogi Berra phrase to emphasize his/her belief that the difference between winning and loosing big games is psychological preparation: “The game of baseball is half psychological and 50% mental.” Coach liked that saying.

Every player is required to write in his/her journal at least two times each week, each time answering four questions: (1) What technical aspect of your game is most complete today? (2) What are you doing to maintain your competitive fitness? (3) How are you preparing yourself mentally to compete in premier level soccer? (4) What personal goal will you achieve this season? The questions are purposely designed to promote “positive self-talk.” Coach Jacobs does not want any of his/her players dwelling on their deficiencies.

As captain of FC Ignition, Garrison makes it his/her personal responsibility to ensure that every player takes journal writing seriously. Taylor spent a lot of time with me this season working on my journal. Sometimes, Taylor berated me for lack of competitive toughness. I complained to my Dad one time and he called Coach Jacobs and demanded that Taylor “lay off my kid.” I was mad that my Dad got involved in my business and Taylor said it showed how weak I was. Dad was mad at me for not sticking up for myself, but I was just trying not to make waves on the team. After all, Taylor was the captain.

The team party to celebrate the state championship was scheduled for Saturday, April 6, 2002 at the Holiday Inn. Taylor asked me to help him/her unload the coach’s gifts from his trunk and stash them in a coat closet near the banquet room. As captain of the team, it was Taylor’s responsibility to collect money from each of his teammates and buy gifts for the coaches. While we were stashing the gifts, Coach Jacobs showed up and Taylor started steering him/her away from the closet. He tossed me his/her car keys and told me to lock the car.

When I got to the parking lot I remembered seeing Taylor’s backpack in his/her trunk, and I also remembered my Dad accusing me of disrespect. I stood in front of the locked trunk for ten minutes, not knowing what to do. I was sweating. Finally, I decided that my Dad would never respect me if I did not get the journal and I trusted his promise that no one else but him would see the journal. So, I opened Taylor’s locked trunk and removed the journal. I then ran across the street to the 7 Eleven store and made a copy of the last five pages, returned the journal to the backpack, locked the trunk and went back to the banquet room.

Next morning, after the team party, I showed the copies to my father. He looked disgusted when he finished looking at them. Within a few minutes I heard him talking to a detective at the Police Department, and the following day I was called out of class to talk to the detective. I was furious when I found out that Dad had given the journal pages to the Police. The prosecutor questioned me about how I got journal and I told her what happened.

Copies of the pages I took from the journal are attached to this Declaration.

Dated this 20th day of June, 2002.

I HEREBY DECLARE UNDER PENALTIES OF PERJURY UNDER THE LAWS OF WASHINGTON THAT THE FOREGOING IS TRUE AND CORRECT.

/s/ Quinn Carpenter

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Quinn Carpenter