Desert and Stockdale Mock Trial Finalists

mocksuper02-1: Desert and Stockdale Mock Trial FinalistsAfter months of preparation and six grueling rounds of courtroom debate between 22 county high school teams, Desert Senior High from Edwards Air Force Base and Stockdale High from Bakersfield emerged as the finalists at the 20th annual Kern County Mock Trial competition held at Kern County Superior Courts of California in Bakersfield on Feb. 23.

The outcome sets up a rematch between Desert and Stockdale who competed for the county title last year with Stockdale winning. It will be February 27 from 6:30-9 p.m., at the Kern County Board of Supervisors chambers, 1115 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield. The winner represents Kern County at the state Mock Trial March 22-24 in San Jose, CA.

Other teams finishing in the county Top 10 were:

    Third – Ridgeview High
    Fourth – Liberty High
    Fifth – Foothill High
    Sixth – Garces High
    Seventh – Centennial High
    Eighth – McFarland High
    Ninth – Arvin High
    Tenth – North High
The top two students from each team as decided by the judges were named to the Honor Court. They were:
    Arvin High – Maria Gonzalez and Jose Ayala
    Bakersfield High – David Daniels and Steven Maxwell
    Bakersfield Christian High – Eric Heider and Ashleigh Findley
    Centennial High – Kasey Cable and Kevin O’Brien
    Desert Senior High – Monica Hicks and Derek Mohr
    East High – Trevor Blankenship and Madisyn Mendivel
    Foothill High – Neil Richmond and April Lewis
    Garces High – Bob Hildebrand and Amy Turnipseed
    Kern Valley High – Justin Powers and Janet Moore
    Liberty High – Devin Stone and Mark Wilson
    McFarland High – Denny Mar and Landon Snell
    Mojave High – Kelly Keir and Melinda Davis
    North High – Nathan Fryer and Shana Rader
    Ridgeview High – Duran Junious and Faheemah Salahud-Din
    Rosamond High – Kathleen Burns and Leslie Haecker
    Shafter High – Leslie Gilbert and Valerie Fain
    South High – Shena Williams and Alexandra Ford
    Stockdale High – Chirag Desai and Raagini Shah
    Taft High – Aletha Rhoades and Tina Peevy
    Tehachapi High – Zach Pool and Brandon Koeth
    West High – Abigail Milton and Melissa Wagner

Another individual award category, “Courtroom Artist,” honors students who submitted trial scene drawings completed during the morning session. Entries were judged by members of the Arts Council of Kern. The first place courtroom artist who will represent Kern County at the state Mock Trial competition in San Jose is Janna Kinnison from Stockdale High. Second place went to Adam Power from Foothill High. The third place finisher was Monica Watkins from Garces High.

A first time award given at the local competition only was for Courtroom Journalist and the winner was Colin Haynes from Centennial High. Second place went to Ian Rios from Bakersfield High and third place to Jeseka Snider from East High.

Team members from the competing high schools acted as defense and prosecution in the fictitious case of People v. Price, involving issues of profiling, arson and search and seizure as prepared by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Los Angeles and used in each round.

According to Vickie Spivy, event coordinator, “Students get a better understanding of the link between the Constitution, the courts and the legal system through the hands-on experience of the Mock Trial program.”

The event is sponsored by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, Kern County Bar Association and Kern County Superior Courts of California with a grant from the Harry and Ethel West Foundation.
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