Lacking coach, mock trial settles for scrimmage within team

February 12, 2019 — by Kaitlyn Tsai

Team ends season with full trial for its 23 members

As spring approaches, the mock trial team is preparing to end its season with a scrimmage among members. Due to a lack of preparation, the team withdrew from scrimmages with other schools that had been scheduled for January.

The team plans to host their scrimmage early February in club supervisor Matt Torrens’s room. The team has been working on the case for several months, and plans to pit the prosecution team against the defense team.

The case, People v. Klein, focuses on a false emergency report and an alleged criminal threat that the defendant, Reagan Klein, made against his coworker, Sawyer Smith.

Some members still view these changes as beneficial, given that the team lacked an attorney-coach this year and didn’t participate in the usual county competition.

“It takes away the true feeling of mock trial,” senior Hugo Huang said. “But it's good that people can practice without any repercussions if they mess up, and they would be more comfortable just among each other than if we put them against a school for a first scrimmage.”

Looking to next year, the team has continued to search for a new attorney coach, but so far without success. According to Torrens, fewer people are willing to take the job because of the time commitment.

With no coach, the team may simply have to adjust to smaller activities and competitions.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s our best option,” Torrens said.

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