Washington Courts: News and Information

2017 Washington State High School Mock Trial Champion: Seattle Prep

OLYMPIA, MARCH 27, 2017 — Seattle Preparatory School took top honors this Sunday as the 2017 Champion of the Washington State YMCA Mock Trial Competition. The team is now eligible to compete for the national title May 1 – 3 in Hartford, Connecticut

 Washington Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud presided over the championship trial in Olympia with Seattle Prep and Franklin High School, both of King County, competing for the statewide title in what turned out to be a very close competition separated by a small number of votes.

 The top 12 finalists of the competition are as follows:

The William Downing Values Award was presented to HM Jackson High School for exhibiting values of sportsmanship and professionalism promoted through the YMCA Mock Trial mission. The Best Attorney award for the weekend competition was a tie between Sunny Tomar of Skyline High School and Vivian Noyd of Wenatchee High School purple team. The Best Witness award for the weekend went to Jacob Orme of King’s High School.

For the Championship round, the Best Attorney and Best Witness awards went to Alex Walsh and Rachel Kaftan respectively, both of Franklin High School black team.

The competition began Friday, March 24 with 24 teams competing from around the state in a three-day, four-round competition this weekend at the Thurston County Courthouse, arguing the plaintiff and defense sides of a fictitious criminal trial in which a corporation testing a driverless car is charged with manslaughter when the non-driver is killed in an accident.

The YMCA Mock Trial program began in 1987 and is part of the YMCA’s Youth & Government program, which for 68 years has helped students experience democracy in action. Mock Trial allows students to participate in true-to-life courtroom drama before real judges in real courtrooms, gaining an understanding of the law and the role of the judiciary.

PROGRAM CONTACTS: Seattle Prep Head Coach Andy McCarthy, 206-931-1058 or amccarthy@seaprep.org ; Judge Robert Lewis, Mock Trial Program Chair at 360-397-2226; Sarah Clinton, Executive Director, YMCA Youth and Government Program at 360-357-3475, or cell 360-480-4838

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