Louisville High Wins State Mock Trial

Twelve girls from Louisville High School in Woodland Hills returned to school Monday with the championship of the California State Mock Trial high school competition.

The group was exhausted after what 17-year-old senior Nanci Echeverri described as a “nerve-racking” three days of arguing both sides in the mock criminal trial of a fictional character, who faced indictment on charges of arson and incitement to riot.

The team was declared the winner in Sacramento Sunday, and will fly to Atlanta, Ga., next month to compete for the national title.

The finalists “were better than many lawyers, quite seriously,” said Lois Thompson, a Los Angeles attorney who helped judge. Thompson said the Louisville team stood out because the girls could “think on their feet.”

About 400 high schools compete in the California State Mock Trial competition each year. Louisville, a private Catholic school for girls, beat Dos Pueblos High School of Santa Barbara County in Sunday’s final round. Louisville will compete against about 40 high school teams from around the country at the national contest May 7-9, sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Georgia State Bar Assn.

Coach Michael Telesca said team members have been studying the mock case since October. The Constitutional Law Foundation, sponsor of the contest, provides all the facts of the case, as well as legal precedents and “a lot of red herrings” which students must sort out, he said.

Nanci, who played a prosecuting attorney in the final round, said she didn’t succeed in winning a conviction of the defendant on all counts, but did manage to make the incitement to riot charge stick. Nanci, who is interested in becoming a doctor, said the contest taught her as much about assertiveness as it did about law.

“When we started, none of us thought we would be able to stand in front of a judge and answer questions,” she said. “It’s an amazing experience.”

The Louisville team includes Nanci and seniors Cindy Aguero, Erica Budniak, Daniela Basile, Katie Carlin, Amy Fitzpatrick, Caroline Gazeryan, Heidi Schweiker, Shaela Sheikh, Kristin Sincox, Blythe Thomas and Alicia Vaz.