Lynbrook High School Wins Mock Trial Event

SAN JOSE, CA – A victory this week in the Santa Clara County Mock Trial competition has secured Lynbrook High School of San Jose a spot in next month's state championship.

The Lynbrook competitors narrowly defeated a Los Gatos High School team in the Feb. 23 final round of a tournament hosted by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Santa Clara County Bar Association.

Just five points separated the two teams at the end of the legal showdown at Santa Clara County Superior Court's historic 1868-built "Old Courthouse" in San Jose.

Lynbrook High's victory is its first in six years, following a defeat in the final round of last year's tournament. This week's competition marked Los Gatos High's first appearance in the tournament's final round.

About 380 students from 19 public and private schools in Santa Clara County participated in the event.

Lynbrook's victorious legal eagles are Thania Amberiadis, Cornell Bang, Quinton Beck, Katherine Cai, Hans Fuernkranz, Erika Ho, Michelle Jin, Tiffany Ku, Daniel Lewis, Laurie Mallison, Chad Naylor, Armita Pedram-Razi, Belinda Tang and Ruisi Yang.

In Mock Trial, students act as lawyers, witnesses, bailiffs and time-keepers in a fictional criminal court case. The activity requires interpretation of the facts and relevant case law, as well as strong reading comprehension and acting skills.

This year's imaginary case, People v. Bratton, centered on a comedian accused of killing an arts critic whose blistering online reviews might have cost the defendant bookings.

Students present their case before a Santa Clara County judge, and work with local attorneys who coach, mentor and guide the pupils. Also, attorneys from across the county volunteer their time to score students' presentations.

Retired jurist Read Ambler served as the presiding judge in this week's final competition. Scoring attorneys included Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr; Santa Clara County Public Defender Mary Greenwood; Santa Clara County Acting County Counsel Miguel Marquez; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Scharf; Bar Association President-Elect Shannon Stein; and mock trial Coordinator Angela Storey.

The state competition will be held in San Jose on March 19-21.
 

Date last updated: February 25, 2010