The remaining two teams in the 42nd annual Riverside County Mock Trial Competition will lock horns in the final round Thursday, and the top team will be named champion of the contest.
After six rounds of competition, Notre Dame and Poly high schools, both in the Riverside Unified School District, made it to the last lap. They are slated to match wits Thursday at the Riverside Historic Courthouse to complete the exercise.
Nearly 400 students from 22 high schools started out in the county’s mock trials this year, according to the Office of Education.
Teams from Corona, Murrieta, Palm Desert, Riverside and Temecula have endeavored their best legal maneuvering to advance through each round, the first one held during the last week of January.
Murrieta Valley High School won the competition for the first time last year.
The contest returned to in-person meets instead of virtual ones in 2023 after the public school system rescinded COVID-driven restrictions on gatherings that were in place during the 2021 and 2022 events. The 2020 competition was held prior to the school closures.
The Office of Education, in partnership with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Riverside County Bar Association and the Superior Court, sponsor the competition annually. The county began holding student-level mock trials in 1983. More than 14,000 youths have participated since then, organizers said.
This year’s contest has challenged participants to successfully argue the fictitious case of People v. Clark, involving the murder of a medical components chief executive officer. The made-up character was discovered stabbed to death in her hotel room, prompting accusations of possible family conflicts leading to the killing, or even corporate espionage. Students have been tasked with analyzing forensic evidence, the legality of warrants and other matters during the trials.
Teams consisting of eight to 25 students play the parts of deputy district attorneys, defense attorneys, bailiffs, witnesses, clerks and investigators. Contestants are given an allotted time, generally four to six minutes, at each stage of a proceeding, including opening and closing statements and cross-examinations.
Practicing attorneys and judges assess students’ performance, awarding points in accordance with criteria established for the contest.
Students from public and private high schools are permitted to take part.
The 2024 championship team will represent the county in the California Mock Trial Competition on March 22-24 in Los Angeles.