Mock Trial county competition season underway

During the first week of February, new additions to this year’s mock trial team performed for the first time in front of a real judge in a real courtroom at the Santa Clara County tournament in downtown San Jose.

On Feb. 7, the prosecution team faced Leigh and lost 235-215.
“We have been practicing for months,” history teacher and team adviser Jeffrey Scott said about the loss, “but everything changes when you are at the downtown courthouse staring in front of a real judge with an audience.”

Still, Scott was proud of team, especially the new members.

“[Senior head prosecuting attorney] Michael Chang gave an extremely powerful closing statement,” he said. “Also, freshman Timothy Chau did a tremendous job in his role as an expert witness.”
Freshman prosecution attorney Sonal Pai was one of the many members who performed for the first time.

“It was pretty nervewracking,” she said, “but at the same time I had a lot of fun knowing that this was an actual judge [and] real attorneys who were judging us, so it made the experience all the more exciting.”

On Feb. 2, the defense team defeated Palo Alto 253-231.

“This was a great victory for our team, as last year we only defeated them by 11 points,” Scott said.
Senior co-captain and defendant Jimmy Zheng felt the team performed well despite their nervousness in the first preliminary round.

“I think defense came out with a lot of momentum against Palo Alto,” Zheng said.
He commended sophomore defense attorney Casey Takahashi and junior head defense attorney Ashwini Velchamy for their exceptional performances on the opening and closing statements respectively.

“Charles Li [also] wowed the judge and scoring attorneys with his powerful voice, as he challenged the prosecution expert’s findings,” Zheng said.

Takahashi felt nervous at the beginning of the trial but felt more comfortable as the trial proceeded.
“In front of a judge, you can really concentrate on that one person and block out everyone else,” she said. “I was able to calm down and give it my all.”

However, she feels she still needs to work on her volume during her performance.

“I know I need to speak up so I’m not overpowered by the big courthouse,” she said.

The prosecution team faced Pioneer on Feb. 9 and lost 263-223. The defense team will finish the preliminary rounds on Feb. 16. Based on scores, the team may or may not be able to advance to the quarterfinal round on Feb. 21.