Congratulations to American High School, Fremont!

Congratulations to American High School in Fremont, whose Mock Trial team took first place in the 2020 Philip A. Harley Memorial Mock Trial Competition.

In an epic, remarkably evenly matched final round, American High School eked out a victory over the defending champion Moreau Catholic! Of the 1686 points awarded by the 5 scorers, American earned 850 to Moreau’s 836. This one will go down as one for the ages.

Heartfelt congratulations to both teams! Moreau displayed all of the skill and grace reflective of the true champions that they are, and American proved that with hard work and determination, anything is possible. Truly a remarkable performance by both teams. And now let’s wish American the best of luck as they advance to the State competition in Los Angeles (March 20-22). We know they will represent Alameda County well.

Courtroom Art Competition

This year we had 5 submissions for the Courtroom Artist competition. Like the regular Mock Trial competition, the quality of these submissions was remarkably high. After a thorough jury process, here are the final results:

• First Place (tie): Jocelyn Tao, Foothill High; and Carson Moses, Moreau Catholic
• Third Place: Gianna Nguyen, Moreau Catholic
• Honorable Mentions: Sophia Choi, Amador Valley and Lily Cheng, Amador Valley

Based on these results, Jocelyn and Carson qualify to advance to the State competition, where we are confident they will be strong contenders.

Journalism Competition

This year we had two exceedingly strong Journalism submissions. Here are the results of the jurying process:

• First Place: Trisha Khattar, Amador Valley
• Second Place: Edward Ding, Amador Valley

Both Trisha and Edward qualify to advance to the State competition in LA, where, like their artist peers, we're sure they will represent Alameda County well.

Congrats to all submitters, and best of luck to Jocelyn, Carson, Trisha and Edward at States!

The Alameda County Mock Trial Competition is a countywide high school criminal trial competition designed to increase understanding of our judicial system and the processes necessary to create a just society.

The Mock Trial Program is sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF). Each year CRF creates a mock trial that addresses serious matters facing young people today.

Each team works with teacher and attorney coaches to prepare their version of the criminal case, both from the prosecution and defense perspective. Students assume the roles of trial attorneys, pretrial motion attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs. Through these role-playing techniques, students learn about the content and processes of law in an exciting and vibrant way. Also, by studying the case and preparing strategies and arguments for trial, students increase their public speaking skills, analytical ability and team cooperation.

If you would like to volunteer your time and expertise to the Alameda County Mock Trial Competition or would like more information about the program, please contact Ben Sanders, Program Manager at bsanders@acoe.org.

For more information, visit Constitutional Rights Foundation