Junior Gabi Alvarado, front, co-captain and lead attorney for the defense, helps sophomore Ian Thompson prep for the Mock Trial team’s competition on Jan. 31. The team’s third round of county competition was on Feb. 21 against Del Campo High School.
On Feb. 21 the SCDS Mock Trial team won 2-1 in the fourth round of competition against Del Campo High School with a score of 511-481.
Heading into this round, Del Campo was ranked second and SCDS third. Having defeated Del Campo, SCDS has claimed second and pushed Del Campo to third.
“I thought they would be good and I was pretty nervous, but we did so well,” junior Gabi Alvarado, co-captain and lead attorney for the defense, said. “I’m very proud of our team.”
Alvarado noted junior Blake Lincoln’s performance as both pre-trial attorney and expert witness for the prosecution.
“He got perfect scores on his pre-trial and close to perfect (scores) on his witness testimony,” Alvarado said “He’s come so far.”
According to Alvarado, Del Campo had strong witnesses and examinations.
“(All of their) witnesses were good actors,” she said.
To compete against a strong team such as Del Campo requires preparation. Bailiff freshman Keshav Anand said he felt well prepared and confident because he had successfully memorized all his lines.
“It’s easy to screw up if you haven’t memorized your lines,” Anand said.
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.
A panel of three judges scores each team to determine the winner of the round.
“I get nervous that the judges may not see the talent our team displays, but I am not nervous for how our team performs,” coach Rick Lewkowitz said.
“They continue to impress me every competition.”
After beating county powerhouse Elk Grove in last week’s competition, junior Jack Christian, lead prosecuting attorney and co-team captain, was hopeful.
“My goal for the season was to simply do better than last year, meaning to win county,” Christian said.
“I didn’t think this goal was achievable at the beginning of the year as we had such a new team with lots of new freshmen. But after seeing our team compete in (the) Beach Ball (tournament) and the first three rounds of the county competition, I am encouraged that we can make it to finals and maybe even to states.”
—By Kristine Schmitz
