Mock Trial team victorious in first round of county competition

The Mock Trial team beat Sheldon High School, 427-391, on Jan. 31 in the first round of county competition.

As always, the competition was held at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse ( 720 9th St.).

This year’s case involves a first-degree murder trial in which pro-immigrant Casey Davidson is accused of murdering Alex Thompson, an anti-immigrant activist.

 While this is coach Rick Lewkowitz’s first year coaching the SCDS team, he has many years of experience most recently coaching the team at Elk Grove High School for 14 years.  

In preparation for the competition, everyone was excited but also nervous, Lewkowitz said.

“We had been looking forward to this (first competition) since the end of August,”  he said.

Lewkowitz was very proud of how the whole team performed and gave junior Jack Christian, lead prosecuting attorney and co-team captain, special recognition.

Christian was voted Most Valuable Player by the opposing team at the end of the competition.

Looking ahead to the next round, Lewkowitz said the team needs to relax and be more natural in the attorney-witness interactions.

Christian agreed, adding that in this first competition everyone was a little scripted and rigid.

“We should be more personable and real in the courtroom,”  he said

Christian said he was proud of the team even though it is very young – there are no seniors.

Junior Gabi Alvarado, lead defense attorney and co-team captain, agreed.

“I’m most proud of our new witnesses because they’ve never done this before; they’ve never been in the courthouse,” Alvarado said. “They performed really well, and it’s really nerve-wracking to do that.”

Freshman Sarina Rye, whose role is the murder victim’s friend, said she was very nervous as this was her first competition but was glad she participated.

“(Mock Trial) is useful for improving speaking skills in presentations at school,” Rye said.

—By Kristine Schmit