Mock trial is a scholarly extracurricular that spend the year competing with other school about a ‘mock’ trial court case. Each team has two sides, prosecution and defense, which consist of students portraying witnesses, attorneys, and either a bailiff or a timer. The season consists of four rounds, semifinals, and finals.
This year the case involves the killing of Lee Valdez which the defendant, Jamie Hayes, argues as justifiable homicide. The case consists of the track team of Central Coast University (CCU) which has many conflicts with the CCU campus security. On May 25, 2014, Lee Valdez, campus security, was investigating a car theft two blocks from the track house and saw someone with a hooded sweatshirt and a screwdriver who he found out was Casey Barns, the track team captain. Lee Valdez pinned Casey Barns to the ground and, when Jamie Hayes saw Casey Barns being pinned, Hayes took a baseball bat and hit Valdez in the head. Two weeks later Valdez died as a result of the head wound.
The 2015 case was released in September and the Redlands East Valley Mock Trial team is excited for the season to begin. Brennan Bartley, the captain of the mock trial team, says that the REV, “mock trial team is always highly competitive and this year is no different. I look forward to this year with gleeful anticipation.” The Redlands East Valley Mock Trial team is excited and enthusiastic for yet another season under the guidance of their dedicated coaches.
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