Westview High School’s Mock Trial team outperformed 31 other San Diego County high school teams to win the annual legal competition. The San Diego County Mock Trial program provides high school students with the opportunity to experience the legal field in courtrooms rather than classrooms. The student teams take on the roles of lawyers and witnesses facing off on a hypothetical case in front of actual state and federal judges. The multi-round competition returned to in-person competition after being virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Westview High School will now represent San Diego County in the statewide Mock Trial competition later this month. This year’s statewide competition will be held virtually due to the pandemic.

The annual event is hosted at the San Diego Superior Court’s Central Courthouse and is run by the Mock Trial Committee which includes representatives from the San Diego Superior Court, the San Diego County Bar Association, U.S. District Court Southern District of California, San Diego County Office of Education, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, San Diego County Public Defender’s Office, Federal Defenders, Inc., U.S. Attorney’s Office, and San Diego Paralegal Association. Each year’s trial topic and contents are outlined by the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

With a record number of students participating in this year’s event, hundreds of attorneys and judges were called on to support the competition. A total of 261 San Diego County attorneys served as coaches or scorers. Fifty-seven judges presided over trials throughout the competition, including Hon. Dana M. Sabraw, chief judge of the Southern District of California, who presided over the championship round trial. An additional 65 individuals volunteered their time to serve as courtroom monitors.

For additional information on the San Diego County Mock Trial competition, please visit sdmocktrial.org.