Westview High School’s Mock Trial team outperformed 38 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.

For the second year in a row, Westview High School will now represent San Diego County in the statewide Mock Trial competition later this month. This year’s statewide competition will return to in-person courtrooms in Los Angeles.

The annual event is hosted at the San Diego Superior Court’s Central Courthouse and is organized 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 239 San Diego County attorneys served as scorers for the competition and another 124 attorneys volunteered their time to be coaches for the competing teams. Seventy-seven judges presided over trials throughout the competition, including Hon. Patrick J. Bumatay, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who presided over the championship round trial. An additional 72 individuals volunteered their time to serve as courtroom monitors.

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