Washington State Courts

03/22/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/22/2023 16:06

Swatting and Who’s Responsible?: Teens compete in Mock Trial championship this weekend in Olympia

Swatting and Who's Responsible?: Teens compete in Mock Trial championship this weekend in Olympia

March 22, 2023

Hundreds of high-school students from across Washington are gathering in Olympia this weekend to compete in this year's YMCA Mock Trial State Championship, after three years of the event being held remotely due to COVID-19.

Students from two dozen schools will come together March 24-26 at the Thurston County Courthouse, to participate in a true-to-life court proceeding where they will present the different sides of a fictitious case involving witness testimony, evidence, attorney arguments, rulings by judges and ratings by jurors staffed by a team of active and retired volunteer judges and attorneys.

This year's case centers on the growing problem of swatting and whether parents or guardians are responsible for preventable crimes committed by their children. Swatting is the tactic of deceiving emergency services into dispatching an armed response team by the false reporting of a serious crime or emergency at an innocent person's address.

The top two teams will compete to decide a champion on Sunday during the final round at 11:30 a.m., which will be presided over by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese, and streamed on TVW.

"For the first time since March 2020, Mock Trial has featured students competing in-person in multiple venues throughout the state," said Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis, who serves as chair of Washington's YMCA Mock Trial program. "We are excited to return to the Thurston County Courthouse for this year's state tournament so students can experience what it's like to advocate in a real courtroom setting."

Mock Trial is a component 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.

For the state finals, student teams will engage in four rounds of competition over Friday and Saturday. Judges and attorneys from across the state volunteer to preside over the trials and serve as jurors, rating the teams. Schools competing in the 2023 Mock Trial championship competition include:

Benton County

Chelan County

  • The Oaks Classical Christian School
  • Wenatchee High School

Clark County

  • Camas High School
  • Cascadia Tech Academy
  • Cedar Tree Classical Christian School
  • Columbia High School
  • Columbia River High School

King County

  • Eastlake High School
  • Franklin High School
  • Holy Names Academy
  • Mercer Island High School
  • Seattle Academy
  • Seattle Preparatory School Blue
  • Seattle Preparatory School White
  • Skyline High School Green
  • Skyline High School Silver
  • University Preparatory Blue

Kitsap County

Pierce County

  • Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA)

Snohomish County

  • Archbishop Murphy High School
  • Kamiak High School
  • King's High School Red
  • King's High School White

The state Mock Trial champion can go on to compete in the national Mock Trial tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 18 to 20, 2023.

Also supporting the Mock Trial program are the Administrative Office of the Courts, TVW, the Washington Judges Foundation, the Pierce County Minority Bar Association, the Honorable Robert J. Bryan American Inn of Court, and the District and Municipal Court Judges' Association.

CONTACT: Amber Wetzel, YMCA Youth & Government Executive Director, [email protected], (360) 357-3475; Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis, Mock Trial State Program Chairman, [email protected]; or Lorrie Thompson, AOC senior communications officer, [email protected], (360) 705-5347.

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