Washington Courts: News and Information

Does Desperation Mitigate Crime?: Teens Compete for State Mock Trial Championship this Weekend in Tacoma

Hundreds of high school students from across Washington will gather at the Pierce County Courthouse this weekend to compete in this year’s YMCA Mock Trial State Championship. Students from 21 schools and community centers comprising 26 teams will come together March 14-16 at the Pierce County Courthouse in Tacoma to compete in true-to-life trials.

The winner of the state championship is eligible to compete in the national high school Mock Trial championship in Phoenix, Arizona in early May. Washington teams have consistently placed high in the national competition, winning twice in recent years.

For each of four rounds, competing teams are assigned either the prosecution or defense side of the 2025 fictional criminal case, which they have been studying for several months. Students serve as attorneys, witnesses, defendants and alleged victims. They learn cross examination skills, how to testify, the rules for presenting evidence and making objections, how to give opening and closing statements, and how to respond to rulings by judges. They are rated by a team of attorneys serving as jurors, and scores determine winning teams.

Dozens of Washington judicial officers from around the state volunteer to preside over the trials, and more than 100 attorneys volunteer to serve as “jurors,” scoring the trial components to determine a winner.

The 2025 competition case involves the alleged burglary and vandalism of a residence and charitable day shelter by an unhoused person. The fictional case was written by Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis, who has served as Chair of the Washington state YMCA Mock Trial Program for many years, authoring unique cases each year. Lewis is retiring from the role of Chair, and this year is serving as co-chair with Pierce County District Court Judge Lizanne Padula, who will take over the Chair duties.

“Should we excuse conduct, illegal in principle, that is understandable given the actor’s desperate situation?...Should the reasons for the desperation be considered? As a society, we want to be empathetic toward our fellow beings, but we also want to be protected,” Lewis wrote in the introduction to the 2025 case, which he titled Nessie.

“We play by the rules and earn what we have obtained. Why should others get to take from us, or acquire what they want by different rules? If someone damages our property in desperation, it is still damaged,” he wrote. “Our teams will need to present their case to a jury steeped in the law… I hope [they] find the case interesting and thought-provoking.”

After four rounds of trials which take place the evening of March 14 and throughout the day Saturday, March 15, the two teams with the top scores will compete Sunday, March 16 for the state championship. The championship trial begins at 11:30 a.m. and will be presided over by Washington State Supreme Court Justice Sal Mungia, who grew up in Pierce County. It will be recorded by TVW.

Teams competing in the 2025 YMCA Mock Trial State Championship competition include:

• Benton County 
  Richland High School
• Chelan County
  Wenatchee High School – two teams
• Clark County
  Cascadia Technical Academy – two teams
  Columbia River High School 
• Jefferson County
  Port Townsend High School 
• King County
  Eastlake High School
  Franklin High School – two teams
  Inglemoor High School
  International Community School
  Mount Si High School
  O’Dea High School
  Sammamish High School
  Seattle Academy of Arts & Science 
  Seattle Preparatory School – two teams 
  Skyline High School – two teams
  University Prep 
• Pierce County 
  Tacoma School of the Arts
• Snohomish County     
  Archbishop Murphy High School
  Marysville YMCA 
  Mukilteo YMCA 
• Spokane County
  The Oaks Classical Christian Academy 

Mock Trial is part of the YMCA Youth & Government Program which helps young people experience democracy in action through both its Mock Trial and Youth Legislature programs. Mock Trial teaches students to compete in courtroom cases based on real laws as teams from different high schools argue either the prosecution/plaintiff or the defense side of the fictional case.

Students develop critical thinking and analytical skills, learn the art of oral advocacy, and gain understanding of law and the judicial branch.

Sponsors of the YMCA Mock Trial program help keep the program as low cost as possible. They include the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Washington State Bar Association, the District & Municipal Court Judges Association, US District Court WDOW, TVW, Microsoft, Google, Comcast Cable, Mission Square Retirement, PEMCO Insurance, Weyerhaeuser, Manulife Investment Management, Lawrence Kahn Law Group, WA Council of Fire Fighters, and Plauche & Carr LLP.

CONTACT:  Lorrie Thompson, AOC senior communications officer, Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov, (360) 705-5347; Nolan Martin, Executive Director, Washington YMCA Youth & Government, (360) 367-8738.