SBCSS News and Press Releases

County Mock Trial Competition Begins On Nov. 5

2008-10-28

SAN BERNARDINO - More than 600 students representing 29 high schools and 30 teams will compete in the 27th annual San Bernardino County Mock Trial program beginning on Nov. 5.

The Mock Trial competition simulates a criminal case where students portray the principal courtroom characters on both sides of a case before a real judge. This year's case is People vs. Lane, a trial featuring a pretrial argument on the First Amendment in an arson case where Lane is charged with arson and with incitement of others to riot.

The preliminary trials of the competition will be held at the Foothill Law and Justice Center in Rancho Cucamonga and the county courthouses in Victorville and San Bernardino. All four rounds of the preliminaries will be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 5, 12, 18 and Dec. 2.

The County Schools' office and the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office are co-sponsors of the competition. The public is invited to attend all rounds of the competition, but there is limited seating.

After the preliminaries, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals on Dec. 6 at 9 a.m. The semifinals will be held at the Foothill Law and Justice Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

The finals are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Dec. 13, also at the Foothill Law and Justice Center.

The winner of the county competition will advance to the state finals on March 20-22 in Riverside.

This year's competing high schools and their respective districts are: Apple Valley and Academy of Academic Excellence (Charter), Apple Valley Unified; Barstow, Barstow Unified; Chaffey and Los Osos, Chaffey Joint Union; Colton, Colton Joint Unified; Kaiser, Fontana, Summit and A.B. Miller, Fontana Unified; Hesperia and Sultana, Hesperia Unified; Redlands (2 teams) and Redlands East Valley, Redlands Unified; Carter and Rialto, Rialto Unified; Arroyo Valley, Cajon, Pacific and San Bernardino, San Bernardino City Unified; Serrano, Snowline Joint Unified; Upland, Upland Unified; Silverado, University Preparatory, and Victor Valley, Victor Valley Union High. Also participating are private schools Aquinas, Arrowhead Christian, Loma Linda Academy and Ontario Christian.

Last year, Redlands East Valley defeated Redlands in the finals.

For more information about the Mock Trial program, contact Dottie Bryant of the County Schools' office at (909) 386-2630.