Published November 7, 2024
BY LAITH RODRIGUEZ
After winning in 2016, Carmel High School’s mock trial team is sending 11 of their members to the Mock Trial Empire World Championships for the third consecutive year to compete against teams from around the world in Chicago, Illinois, on Nov. 5 in hopes of repeating the same success from nearly a decade ago.
“I am so excited to see how far we as a team can go,” says senior club president Julia Jackson. “We’ve put so much time and effort into this case, and I’m looking forward to putting on our trials in Chicago.”
Senior vice president Brianna Sciuto shares the same ideals.
Now president Julia Jackson filling the role of defendant at Empire World Championships in 2023. (courtesy of DANIELA FOLEY)
“It can be a transformative experience to face some of the best teams in the world,” Sciuto adds. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity for the team to be challenged in that manner. I see us going far this season, and participating in the world championships will broaden our horizons.”
Mock trial is a recreation of real government courtrooms, where instead of a state prosecutor and a defense attorney, students from competing high schools try cases from across the globe.
“I always look forward to students having fun and doing a really challenging academic undertaking,” club adviser Bill Schrier explains. “To do mock trial you have to make yourself vulnerable. To be a teenager and stand up in front of a judge and argue a motion takes grit.”
Current vice president Brianna Sciuto delivering a opening statement. (courtesy of DANIELA FOLEY)
The team normally meets once a week every Monday at lunch, but in preparation for Empire this fall, the competition team has been meeting almost daily. According to Schrier, they could be looking at spending 30 hours a week in order to be fully prepared. This preparation includes examining witnesses, holding online and in-person scrimmages or discussing cases they are looking at while trying their case against other schools.
In the last two years the team has participated in four Empire tournaments: two world championships and two online tournaments. Last year at the world championships, the team took 7th out of 44 teams, which was a repeat of their record the year prior.
The trial case this year has to do with subornation of perjury and bribery of a witness, according to Schrier, a former federal prosecutor.
The 2023 mock trial team celebrating seventh place at Empire World Championships. (courtesy of DANIELA FOLEY)
“The claim is that the defendant, who happens to be the county sheriff, bribed a witness and made him lie under oath so that the sheriff could solve a crime,” Schrier explains.
In order to attend, teams must apply and be approved by Empire, the organization that connects the competing teams and hosts the competitions. These are not just teams in California or the United States, as teams from around the world are allowed to apply. Being invited to attend is an intense process and a show of any team’s commitment.
The journey for CHS’ mock trial team started in 2014. They applied to attend a tournament in San Francisco, where their success put them on the radar. The team at the time attended another one of these tournaments and were subsequently invited to go to World Championships. They last won the Empire World Championships in 2016, also winning the state competition that year.
The team also placed fifth in the preliminary rounds of the Empire Stardust online international competition and continued in the playoffs starting Oct. 27. Daniela Foley was awarded the Best Witness Award for her portrayal of a prosecution witness.
The mock trial team at CHS is on track for another successful year of casework and are setting up students with skills for life whether or not they choose to pursue a career as an attorney. The team can be watched live at youtube.com/user/EmpireMockTrial/videos, the hosting organization’s Youtube channel.
