Mock Trial
This class and competition is normally offered to high school participants only; HOWEVER, Fruitvale Junior High has been invited to participate based on their consistent excellence!
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- Our students compete against high school teams in a series of mock trial rounds where students have the opportunity to participate as prosecution attorneys, defense attorneys, defendants and witnesses in a simulated case developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Students acquire skills in public speaking, critical analysis and deduction. A team of students, with the help of a teacher coach and a volunteer attorney coach, prepares and presents the trial from the perspectives of the prosecution and the defense. There are many different roles for Mock Trial team members, including trial attorneys, pretrial motion attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs. During Mock Trial, school teams prosecute or defend a simulated case prepared by the Constitutional Rights Foundation for use in the California Mock Trial Competition.
- Through role-playing techniques, these students learn about the content and processes of law in an exciting and vibrant way. By studying the case and preparing strategies and arguments for trial, students also increase basic and public speaking skills, analytic ability, and team competition skills.
- Each year Mock Trial teams are presented with a new set of Mock Trial materials, focusing on important issues facing America’s youth. Mock Trial materials include a hypothetical criminal case (including summaries of case law, witness statements, official exhibits, and simplified rules of evidence), lesson plans on central issues in that case, and competition rules and guidelines. Under the guidance of teachers and attorney coaches, students will use critical thinking and interpersonal skills to prepare and argue their cases.
For more information, visit KCSOS Mock Trial webpage