The Sacramento Country Day School mock trial team tied 419-all with Pleasant Grove High School on Feb. 11, their third competition of the season.
Country Day won one out of the three ballots; Pleasant Grove took the second, and the third resulted in a tie.
The tradition of each team naming an MVP from the opposing lineup continued with sophomore Samhita Kumar, a pretrial attorney, receiving the title. Kumar made the case that statements made by the defendant in a conversation with an officer was not an unconstitutional interrogation and should be used in the trial.
“I was surprised when they announced me as MVP. I have never won that before, so it was really great news,” Kumar said.
Junior Sanjana Anand agreed with the judge’s choice and said “Samhita’s pre-trial arguments are always good, but this one especially was. Her reasonings were all very logical and were able to win the verdict for the prosecution.”
Country Day mock trial coach, Rick Lewkowitz, said the team did “pretty well. Sanjana did a really good job during the trial. She was appropriately aggressive and was able to adapt well to some of the unusual questions asked by the judge.”
Lewkowitz has hope for the rest of the season.
“We’re just going to take it one trial at a time and keep getting better and better,” he said.
The team’s next match is scheduled on Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m against Jesuit High School.
— By Dylan Margolis
