After five rounds of objections, arguments and examinations, Dos Pueblos High School’s Mock Trial team defended its title at the Empire Mock Trial Philadelphia Constitutional Classic championship. 

In Monday’s championship round, the Dos Pueblos prosecution team defeated the Central Carolina Homeschoolers Veritas, the North Carolina state mock trial champions.

This is only the second year Empire has held the tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so Dos Pueblos remains the only Constitutional Classic champion.

The tournament brought together 36 of the top mock trial programs in the U.S. and included two teams from Canada.

The teams competed over three days at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice. U.S. District Court Judge Mia Roberts Perez presided over the championship round at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse.

The round was hard-fought, with the Chargers winning six out of nine ballots.

Dos Pueblos also garnered two of the coveted individual awards for top performers. Junior Ethan Gardiner won an outstanding attorney award, and junior Stella Moreno won an outstanding witness award for her portrayal of a university dean of academic affairs.

“[Ethan] knows the evidence code super well, and is very articulate,” said team co-captain Ariel Li. “He does the closing argument, so he’s able to synthesize the argument or the evidence that we get in trial in a really convincing way.”

Co-captain Jonathan Yang praised teammate Moreno: “Stella is insane at mock trial. It really wasn’t a surprise to any of us that she won that award.”

This is the Chargers’ fourth Empire title, after winning the Empire World Championship in 2015, the Empire Spring League Championship in 2023 and last year’s Constitutional Classic.

The team also won 12 of the last 15 Santa Barbara County championships and finished in the top 10 at the last four state championships.

Junior Jamison Komaiko was one of only two members of the team (along with Moreno) who had never travelled to an Empire competition.

“We were reigning champs, and everybody knew it,” she said. “There was a lot of pressure on us to defend our title, and we all worked really hard and we got there.”


After receiving the case packet in June, the Chargers and their coaches worked all summer to develop their case theory, prepare and refine their arguments, and hone their witnesses in the fictitious case of Campbell Oskee vs. Empirion State University.

“We have never taken a team this small before,” said attorney coach Lisa Rothstein. “We took eight kids, so all of them had roles to play on both the plaintiff and defense sides of the case.

“That means that they all had to learn twice as much as they would in the regular season, but in less than half the time. They worked incredibly hard for this result.”

Yang thought the smaller team and increased responsibility made them better.

“Ultimately, the exposure to arguing both sides helped us develop a stronger understanding of the case in general, opening opportunities for us to adapt our case to each unique trial,” Yang said.

“Our small size also helped the team get so much closer over the season; these are some of my best friends in the whole world, and truly there is no one else I would rather have won with,” he said.

Despite holding the 2024 champion title, the team was not initially intending to compete at Empire Philly.

“We told the kids they had a lot of convincing to do if they wanted to travel again this year, and they rose to the occasion,” said teacher advisor and coach Hannah Krieshok. “After the weekend, I couldn’t be more proud of or thankful for their dedication, teamwork, connectedness and sportsmanship.” 

The Empire mock trial team is made up of team captains Ethan Gardiner, Ariel Li, Riley Minne and Jonathan Yang, along with team members Alexis Demboski, Jamison Komaiko, Stella Moreno and Milena Rodriguez.

The team is coached by Krieshok and attorney coaches Christine Voss, Rothstein, and Lina Somait.