Miramonte High Named County's Mock Trial Champion

(images of Miramonte, Acalanes, Heritage and California via Diane Morrell, CCCOE)

PLEASANT HILL - Orinda's Miramonte High topped Acalanes High of Lafayette last Tuesday night in the 35th Annual Contra Costa County High School Mock Trial’s Awards Ceremony, held in Martinez.

Miramonte High School will now represent Contra Costa County at the California State Mock Trial competition, held in Sacramento, March 18-20.

The California state finalist team will then compete in the National Mock Trial Competition, held in Boise, Idaho, May 12-14.

Brentwood's Heritage High finished third in the competition, and California High from San Ramon was fourth.

In addition, $1000 CCCOE Mock Trial Scholarships were given to Lucy Portnoff, Miramonte High; Izabel Rodriguez, Kennedy High; and Kelly Wong, Richmond High.

Contra Costa County Presiding Judge Hon. Steven Austin spoke on behalf of fellow judges. "We are all so impressed!" he told a crowd at the winner's ceremony. "The skills you honed for Mock Trials will certainly be an asset to you, and you’ll carry them for the rest of your lives!”

Unlike a sports season, most of the high school teams begin their training at the start of the new school year and end in February, making Mock Trials one of the longest seasons of all the participating schools’ academic activities.

For the past four weeks , 15 Contra Costa County high school Mock Trial teams have been presenting arguments inside the superior courthouse courtrooms of Martinez. The teams included:

• Acalanes (Lafayette)
• Alhambra (Martinez)
• California (San Ramon)
• Campolindo (Moraga)
• Clayton Valley Charter (Concord)
• Deer Valley (Antioch)
• El Cerrito (El Cerrito)
• Hercules Middle/High (Hercules)
• Heritage (Brentwood)
• Kennedy (Richmond)
• Miramonte (Orinda)
• Monte Vista (Danville)
• Northgate (Walnut Creek)
• Pinole Valley (Pinole)
• Richmond (Richmond)

Mock Trial is an academic event for high school students coordinated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education, and sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, according to information provided. The stated purpose of the program is to teach students about the law and the workings of the legal system, according to the CCCOE.

To prepare, the students conduct legal research, and receive guidance on courtroom procedures from their schoolteachers and volunteer attorneys and judges to acquire a working knowledge of the judicial system.

(For all the team and individual results, you can visit the Contra Costa County Office of Education’s Mock Trial Web page.)

GJEL Accident Attorneys underwrote this year’s Mock Trial program. The law firm also funded The CCCOE Mock Trial Scholarship Program.