Mock Trial Team Wins Case Against Dougherty Valley High School

The Campo Mock Trial’s defense won against Dougherty Valley High School’s prosecution in a trial at the Martinez Courthouse on February 2, furthering their winning streak they went on to win second out of 18 teams in Contra Costa.

The club is given a case at the beginning of the season, and they proceed to work on it throughout the year. They compete against various schools in a trial, in which everyone plays a part.

Junior Rachel Andre said, “On Thursday, everyone really stepped it up from our last trial on January 31st against Cal High, everybody was on point and knew their stuff. The presentation was great and I think it went really well.”

Senior Sam Herzig said, “There are pretrial attorneys, who deal with stuff that pertains to the case, but isn’t actually arguing about the case. People who are more into acting or drama are witnesses.”

The team studies and prepares for the case as their individual role.

Junior Claire Damiano said, “As a witness, I have a page or two of who I am, I read the page and I learn it. Then my attorney and I draft a statement that we give to the court.”

During a trial, the teams compete against each other in front of real attorneys and judges, who give them feedback. The assistant District Attorney has been one of their scoring attorneys.

Damiano said, “I joined Mock Trial because it just sounded really fun to be a part of, and it is another extracurricular. In an average meeting we usually work for twenty to thirty minutes on our cross examinations and then we present them to the group. My favorite part is the people, they are just all really friendly.”

Herzig also reflected on the Mock Trial experience: “As a freshman, I was looking for an academic club to do,” she said. “Although we are all high-achievers, it is still really laid back…My favorite part of Mock Trial is probably after, when we all go and grab dinner together and just debrief the trial.”

Furthering their winning streak, they defeated rival team Acalanes but ended up losing to Cal High (six-year champions) by one point.

Senior Ellery Stankus said, ‘“My favorite part was being able to learn from what we did in the last trial and continue improving. We definitely wanted to get pretty far and it was exciting, especially our trial against Acalanes because we have the school rivalry. For me, especially because I am a senior and it is my last year, I really wanted to put our best foot forward, have everyone work cohesively as a team, so we could all do as best as we could. I really wanted to end my Mock Trial career on a good note.”