Mock Trial Team

May 4, 2004 - San Marcos Mock Trial Team

On Wednesday the San Marcos Mock Trial Team will be boarding an airplane for Orlando, Florida to compete in the 2004 National High School Mock Trial Championship. There they will act as attorneys in a simulated court case environment. To win the National Title they must defend Fran Lewis, an acknowledged member of an eco-terrorist group, who is accused of murdering Richard Braswell at the Pinnacle Paper Company with a tire iron. The defense? She was framed!

But, the San Marcos team will also have an opportunity to try to convict Fran Lewis. That is the way Mock Trial competitions are done – one round you are the defense and the next round you are the prosecution. Just like good attorneys, the students will have to be able to tenaciously argue either side of the case with conviction, persuasiveness, and eloquence. They must also display a strong understanding of the rules of law and the rules of the competition.

Now, none of the dedicated staff of edhat.com is a lawyer, nor do any of us play one on TV. But last Saturday upon observing the San Marcos team practice at the County Courthouse, we were quite impressed. People had told us they were good, but you know that is only hearsay. The fact that they won this year’s State Championship was impressive, but only inferential and provided us no relative scale with which to judge.

However, any preconceived objections we might have had about the competition or the students were immediately over-ruled by their skill and dedication.

The mock trial was being practiced with Riverside, last year’s State champions, who were nice enough to spend their Saturday with the San Marcos crew even though they are not going to Florida.

The trials last around two hours, so we only had time for part of one. We witnessed Elana Santana meticulously layout the defense’s case like a blueprint for innocence. We witnessed Liz Kreiner cross-examining the witness for the prosecution like Perry Mason zeroing in for a confession. And she was good at objections, too. Katie Simon portrayed the falsely accused. To the dedicated staff, she did not look like someone capable of murder.

Matt Vogel was the third defense attorney; Michael Hanson and Wayne Feng were witnesses. The San Marcos prosecution team also includes Morganne Suding and Alicia Crittenden.

The San Marcos teachers who coach the Mock Trial team are Lawrence Gamble and Eric Burrows, both of whom traded in careers as lawyers for careers as High School teachers. It seems to have been a good choice for the student’s sakes.

While there is no way of guessing how the team will do in Florida, the jury isn’t out on the San Marcos students. All of them have already been accepted to good schools: Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Vassar, etc. Their parents are probably flushed with pride. But, what better way to cap off a senior year in High School than to win a National Championship for your school?

Good luck to the team!

Many of our subscribers came up with the right answer – too many to list. A random drawing chose RagTop as the winner of the daily prize. RagTop has the choice of Movie Tickets, Peet’s Coffee Card, or edhat.com t-shirt. Court is now adjourned.

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