Trinity Pacific Christian School is the winner of both the high school and middle school divisions of the 2023 Ventura County Mock Trial competition. Twenty-one high schools from throughout Ventura County participated in Mock Trial this year. Here’s how the eight highest-scoring high school teams ranked:
- Trinity Pacific Christian School, Silver Team
- Oak Park High School, Black Team
- Westlake High School
- La Reina High School
- Trinity Pacific Christian School, Blue Team
- Santa Susana High School, Troubadours
- Newbury Park High School, Gold Team
- Santa Susana High School, Teal Team
Ventura County Mock Trial included a middle school division for the first time this year and five local middle schools fielded teams. The three highest-scoring middle school teams are:
- Trinity Pacific Christian School, Crowns
- Mesa Union School, Orange Team
- Mesa Union School, Blue Team
The winning teams were announced at an awards ceremony this evening in Camarillo. Mock Trial was held in person over four nights at Ventura County Superior Court for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The complete list of results in all of the various judging categories is available at this link.
Trinity Pacific’s high school team will now go on to represent Ventura County in the California Mock Trial contest, which will take place in Los Angeles in March. Teams from Ventura County have taken first place at the state level in 2021, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2008. A list of past Ventura County Mock Trial winners is available here.
More about the 2023 Ventura County Mock Trial
The Mock Trial competition is coordinated annually by the Ventura County Office of Education. The event brings courtroom drama to life as students take on the roles of participants in a criminal case, including attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs, and journalists. Students present their cases in real courtrooms before actual local judges who volunteer for the competition. Local attorneys serve as coaches. This year’s fictitious case is People v. Franks, which is about an altercation between two actors who are performing on a cruise ship.
High schools that participated this year are:
- Adolfo Camarillo High School
- Agoura High School
- Buena High School
- Channel Islands High School
- Fillmore High School
- Grace Brethren School
- La Reina High School
- Newbury Park High School
- Nordhoff High School
- Oak Park High School
- Oaks Christian School
- Rio Mesa High School
- Royal High School
- Saint Bonaventure High School
- Santa Paula High School
- Santa Susana High School
- St. Augustine Academy
- Thousand Oaks High School
- Trinity Pacific Christian School
- Ventura High School
- Westlake High School
Middle schools that participated this year are:
- Isbell Middle School
- Las Colinas Middle School
- Mesa Union School
- Monte Vista Middle School
- Trinity Pacific Christian School
This year’s Ventura County Mock Trial logo artwork was created by Javi Tontoco from Newbury Park High School. Additional information about the 2023 Ventura County Mock Trial is available at vcoe.org/mocktrial.