Prosecution Attorney Evelyn Hoang (’17) fighting off an objection from an opposing attorney. Photo by John Le.By John Le and Elise Tran, Staff Writers
Fountain Valley (FV) Mock Trial triumphed over Woodbridge High School on Dec. 6, now with a undefeated record of 5-0 and part of the Elite Eight.
Woodbridge High School was once known as the school to beat. In 2012, Woodbridge won county finals and moved on to State competition. It was a huge accomplishment for the team to beat them.
Jane Liu (’18) opened up with a phenomenal pre-trial argument for the Prosecution. Opening Attorney Hannah Brine (‘18) addressed the judge and scoring attorneys with a convincing opening, giving a preview on what Prosecution was going to prove, weaving together a convincing story for the court to hear.
Taylor Nguyen (‘18) showed true emotion for her role as the victim by portraying her character as Lin Stark, showing sadness through her experience at the restaurant. As the trial continued on, Woodbridge and FV were in a tough fight with many objections being thrown out. Closing Attorney Evelyn Hoang (‘17) wrapped up the trial with a closing statement as the last chance to sway the verdict to guilty.
“Lin was simply the perfect ingredient to use and abuse,” Hoang said. “The defendant had her crumbling in the palm of her hand.”
The trial took over three hours which resulted in no MVP being awarded to Fountain Valley’s side, but the Barons managed to hand the other team a MVP nomination before leaving.
The team won by just a hair, winning three out of the five scorecards, barely winning the scorecards by one point. Unlike the preliminaries where teams would be selected randomly to compete against one another, the playoffs consist of the best 16 teams to compete for a spot into State competition. With all the teams giving it their all, the competition gets increasingly difficult and longer.
All eight teams have an undefeated streak, but FV Mock Trial is prepared to grab another win to make it into the Final Four.
Prosecution attorney Kyla Alberto (‘17) commented, “I’m so excited for the next round. I’m so proud of the whole team and for prosecution doing so well tonight.”
The next trial will be on Thursday, Dec.7th.
