Students Prepare for Roles in Annual Mock Trial Contest

Chris Donovan, a college student in a small Central California town, steals a “one-way” traffic sign posted near a highway exit ramp.

Hours later, a honeymooning couple drive the wrong way up the ramp and collide with a gasoline tanker truck, causing an explosion that kills the couple and the truck driver.

And Donovan is arrested and charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly causing the deaths.

This is the scenario that will confront budding barristers in this year’s Ventura County mock trial competition, which begins Monday at the Ventura County Hall of Justice and concludes Feb. 28.

Nearly 400 students from 16 high schools--public and private--have been studying case law since the fall for the county’s 15th annual event. The winners will go to the state contest in Sacramento on March 27-29.

About 7,000 students in 28 counties statewide are participating in this year’s competition. The event mainly is sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a 36-year-old group dedicated to teaching young people about the Bill of Rights and active citizenship, the state Department of Education and the state Bar of California.

The mock case, “People vs. Donovan,” is based on a celebrated real-life trial two years ago in Tampa, Fla. Known as the “stop sign case,” it ended with three friends being sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a stop sign near their mobile home. The jury found that their action resulted in multiple deaths when an 8-ton truck flattened a car carrying three young men.

According to veteran lawyers and teachers who volunteer their time to practice with Ventura County’s budding young Alan Dershowitzes and Johnnie Cochrans, this year’s case is especially complex.

“There are a lot of assumptions you have to make,” said Dan Glynn, a Ventura County deputy district attorney who coaches the team from La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, which has won the county competition for the past four years.

For example, “We need more specifics about that sign,” he said, pointing out that no evidence connects a one-way sign found in the defendant’s home with the sign that was stolen.

At a recent rehearsal, 25 members of the Thousand Oaks High School team drilled each other on pretrial motions, opening statements and direct examinations.

“Take the gum out of your

mouth,” said Mary Budny, an English teacher who coaches the mock trial and Academic Decathlon teams. “And don’t clutch the podium. Move around a bit.”

The students were no less blunt with their peers. Mock-trial defense attorney Paymon Rahgozar, for example, was struggling to give a compelling argument for his client. “Please, get some emotion in your voice,” someone called out. “You sound bored.”

Learning more than just public speaking skills, the teens say they acquire valuable lessons about the American legal system--much of which is different from what they see on TV.

“When I watch “Law and Order,” the lawyers just pull stuff from the tops of their heads,” said Jonathan Mukai, a junior at Thousand Oaks High School playing the part of a defense attorney.

“There’s a lot of lawyer-bashing that goes around, but there’s a surprising amount of work they have to go through. The mock trial really lets you look into what the judicial system is all about.”

Although playing trial lawyer might be fun for now, all the participants are not dreaming of the legal profession as a long-term career goal.

Dena Rinetti, a senior and captain of the mock-trial team at La Reina High School, plans to be a doctor. But “everyone keeps asking me if I want to be a lawyer,” she said.

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FYI

High schools participating in this year’s Ventura County mock trial competition include Agoura, Camarillo, Buena, Channel Islands, Fillmore, Hueneme, La Reina, Newbury Park, Nordhoff, Oxnard, Rio Mesa, Royal, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Westlake.

Winners in recent years:

1986: Thousand Oaks

1987: Thousand Oaks

1988: Thousand Oaks

1989: Camarillo

1990: La Reina

1991: La Reina

1992: Thousand Oaks

1993: Thousand Oaks

1994: La Reina

1995: La Reina

1996: La Reina

1997: La Reina