About Mock Trial

A team of students, with the help of a teacher coach and a volunteer attorney coach, prepares and presents the trial from the perspectives of the prosecution and the defense. There are many different roles for Mock Trial team members, including trial attorneys, pretrial motion attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs. During Mock Trial, school teams prosecute or defend a simulated case prepared by the Constitutional Rights Foundation for use in the California Mock Trial Competition.

The Kern County Mock Trial Program has over 450 Kern County student participants. Through role-playing techniques, these students learn about the content and processes of law in an exciting and vibrant way. By studying the case and preparing strategies and arguments for trial, students also increase basic and public speaking skills, analytic ability, and team competition skills.

Each year Mock Trial teams are presented with a new set of Mock Trial materials, focusing on important issues facing America’s youth. Mock Trial materials include a hypothetical criminal case (including summaries of case law, witness statements, official exhibits, and simplified rules of evidence), lesson plans on central issues in that case, and competition rules and guidelines. Under the guidance of teachers and attorney coaches, students will use critical thinking and interpersonal skills to prepare and argue their cases.