Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

Attorneys needed: YMCA Statewide High School Mock Trial Championships

Attorneys are needed to judge courtroom skills of competing teams of high school students at this year’s state finals of the YMCA Mock Trial Competition. The championship rounds will be held in Olympia in the Thurston County Courthouse March 28-29.

Each year, a dozen top high school mock trial teams are pulled from across the state to vie for the state championship. Designed as an educational tool, the event gives students the chance to argue prosecution and defense sides of a fictional, but near-real case during a two-day, five-round, competition period. The case will be argued in real courtrooms, in front of real trial judges.

Written by Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Jon Tunheim, this year’s case, State v. Jones, was based on a real case Tunheim co-prosecuted himself, and involves a homicide that allegedly ended a history of domestic violence between the defendant and the victim. Designed to give students a special, hands-on look at the issue of domestic violence, funds to support development of the case were supplied by the state Supreme Court’s Gender and Justice Commission.

More than 80 attorneys are needed as "audience raters" to evaluate each high school’s performance. Volunteer judges from across the state will preside over each trial.

Attorney audience raters are needed for three sessions:

• Saturday morning, March 28 (two trials, lunch provided)
• Saturday afternoon, March 29 (one trial)
• Sunday morning, March 29 (one trial)

To volunteer, contact Sue Anderson, coordinator, YMCA Mock Trial Competition, at
(360) 534-0155.