Inside the imposing walls of the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse, about 200 prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses from all over California walked into courtrooms Saturday morning to make their cases heard.
Instead of professional legal experts, the crowd was made up of sharply dressed high school students, armed with legal pads full of notes and a binder detailing the murder case they’d be presenting to the court.
It was all part of the San Marcos High School Mock Trial Invitational that took place most of Saturday and will continue into Sunday.
Nine teams attended the event, the 13th the school has hosted.
Since 2000, the San Marcos High Mock Trial team has won eight county championships and two state championships, the latest just last year.
The team began practicing in October, and next week will be in San Francisco where several Bay Area schools will be hosting the team for more scrimmages.
The Santa Barbara County competition will be held at the end of February.
This weekend’s tournament is designed to provide practice for the students, and there aren’t winners and losers. Coaches serves as the judges and give the students feedback after closing arguments.
The case before the students is a murder involving an overzealous college campus security guard who clashed with members of the track team, explained San Marcos coach Luke Ohrn.
When a student rushes to help a teammate being choked by the guard, the student delivers a blow to his head that later proves fatal, according to the storyline.
The students had to explore concepts like intent and reasonable doubt during the court presentation Saturday morning.
Their prowess could be seen in court as they challenged Redlands East Valley High School’s mock trial team, which beat last year’s state champion in the San Bernardino County finals a few weeks ago.
San Marcos High junior Olivia O’Brien delivered impassioned closing arguments in her case.
The coach who listened to the trial later said he probably would find the defendant not guilty, which is not what the prosecution was aiming for.
Still, both teams were commended for their work. The San Marcos squad was only in its second trial of the season, with many veteran team members having graduated last year.
O’Brien told Noozhawk afterward that being in mock trial is empowering.
“You’re on the edge of your seat,” she said. “It’s given me so much confidence.”
She and the other team members have big hopes for this year.
Daisy Scott, one of the seniors on the team who watched from the back of the courtroom, said she started in the program as a shy freshman.
“It’s increased my confidence so much,” she explained. “It’s affected every single aspect of my life.”
Ohrn, a former attorney, has been teaching and coaching mock trial at San Marcos for the past 10 years. He also teaches AP U.S. history, law and journalism at the campus.
The San Marcos team is also coached by three local attorneys: Joel Kriner, Neil Levinson and MaryAnne Weiss.
“Not only does mock trial introduce kids to the legal system, it also teaches them presentation skills, how to think on their feet, and how to interact with adult professionals and each other,” Ohrn said.
It’s a competitive environment, and he said the students learn more than just how the legal system works.
“A lot of what the kids learn is how to walk in someone else’s shoes as they ‘act’ the parts they play,” Ohrn said. “The students are very creative with the material as they try to convince the judge and jurors that they are something other than a high school student.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
