Is the defendant guilty or not guilty? Ripon High’s Mock Trial team recently had their first competition on Jan. 29 at the San Joaquin County Superior Court. Since it was only round one, the prosecution traveled to compete against Venture Academy. Mock Trial, a simulation of lower-court trials, was co-founded by Mr. Brown, Sienna Pimentel, and Dylann Ballard in the month of Sept. 2024, so this is Ripon High’s first year of competing against other Mock Trial teams from all over the county. 

The prosecution team consists of prosecutors Brodie Alcala-Alves, Marko Ethan Nino Arceo, pre-trial lawyer Presley Chandler, and clerk Sienna Pimentel. The people who took on the roles of witnesses were sophomore Ajit Johal, Chandler, Mackenzie Breunig, and Gurnoor Dhaliwal. The reporter was Isabella Franscella and the sketch artist was Ava White. Unfortunately, the prosecution failed to prove that the defendant was guilty and Venture Academy’s defense team won in both the case and performance. However, the trial went smoothly and efficiently.

Alcala-Alves received Most Valuable Player from the other team as a result of his overall performance. “A part of me was nervous, but I mostly just wanted to push through it as a learning experience because it was the entire team’s first time being there.”

Alcala-Alves is more than confident that himself and his teammates can come back stronger and more confident in swaying the jury in their favor. On Feb. 4, the mock trial’s defense team will be traveling to the courthouse for their turn to compete in round two of the competition. Don’t be afraid to show some support!