The PHS mock trial team defeated Bishop O’Dowd by a score of 772 to 761 in the section championship on Feb. 25, advancing to the state championships for the first time in more than six years.
“I would attribute the team’s success this year to the fact that they’ve worked really hard and thoroughly enjoyed what they’re doing, which has not always been the case,” said history teacher and mock trial coach David Keller. “There’s definitely something to be said about enjoying what you do.”
Keller has served as the head of the mock trial team for seven years, where he has primarily helped teach the rules of mock trial and public speaking skills.
“We’ve also had a lot of students this year who have a lot of mock trial experience to be drawn from,” Keller said. “That and all the hard work have made this year’s team so successful.”
Mock trial teams consist of both a prosecution and defense side, comprised of attorneys and witnesses. Every year, a specific case is issued by the Constitutional Rights Foundation that is argued at each competition, and teams prepare starting in the fall for county competitions in January. Only one side within a given team is presented at each trial, meaning that only half of the team participates at every competition round. Each competitor is scored by real attorney scorers based on an individual point scale, and the final outcome is the total number of points combined from the team’s participants. Mock trial relies on argumentation skills, knowledge of the law, and public speaking expertise.
“I think the best part of a mock trial is how it brings together people that never knew they had something in common,” senior Parsa Bazargani said. “On our team, you can find debaters, actors, athletes, and even people who are none of these things. Mock trial has so many different aspects to it, and I think that’s what makes it special.”
Bazargani, a two-year mock trial member, is a defense attorney who writes and prepares direct and cross examinations for a variety of witnesses. He said that although he did not participate in the championship round against Bishop O’Dowd because he is not part of the prosecution, it was still a thrill to see the two teams compete.
Like almost all things this past year, the mock trial team has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Being online, it’s been much harder to gain chemistry,” Bazargani said.
Mock trial practices, scrimmages, and competitions have been held in an entirely virtual format this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“This year has been very unusual because mock trial is mostly public speaking, and the components of good public speaking [body language and hand movement] are somewhat lost over Zoom,” said senior and mock trial co-captain Emma Broening. “It’s definitely been challenging to read the judges and to read and direct the witnesses.”
Broening has been a member of the mock trial team for two years as a prosecutor and one year as a witness. This year, she prepares and gives closing arguments and conducts direct and cross examinations of witnesses.
“It’s such a rewarding activity when you get to see your hard work pay off,” Broening said.
At the state championships, which ran from March 18 to 21, PHS placed 13 out of 34 teams representing counties across California, beating schools such as Turlock High and University Preparatory (Tulare) over four rounds of competition.
