Poly High Wins Third Mock Trial

Riverside’s Poly High School has won the countywide Mock Trial competition for the third year in a row. Mock Trial is sponsored by the Riverside County Office of Education and the Riverside County Bar Association.

Poly High School beat out Riverside’s Martin Luther King High School for the title while Corona High School and Temecula Valley High School’s gold team tied for third place.

The court case in this year’s competition involved an allegation of credit card fraud. Fictional student Madison Casco was accused of stealing credit card information from a teacher and using it to buy expensive electronic equipment on the Internet. The same case is used for the state competition.

Several individual awards were given during the competition:

Defense Trial Attorney - Jessica Bear and Vicky Degtyareva, Poly High School in Riverside; Danielle Perry, Temecula Valley High School. Degtyareva won an internship with the Riverside County Public Defenders office.

Prosecution Trial Attorney - Julia Malkina and Brittany Sachs,
Riverside’s Martin Luther King High School; Devin Llopis, Temescal Canyon High School in Lake Elsinore. Malkina won an internship with the Riverside
County District Attorney’s office.

Defense Pre-Trial Attorney - Tom Odom, Poly High School.

Prosecution Pre-Trial Attorney - Lark Greenwald, Palm Springs High School.

Top prosecution witnesses - Melina White, Temescal Canyon High School; Jenette DiGenova, Hemet High School; Corrin Swanson, Martin Luther King High School; and Travis Gafford, Temecula Valley High School.

Outstanding defendant - Anitra Eder of West Valley High School in Hemet.

Top defense witnesses - Eric Martin, La Sierra High School in Riverside; Bryce Collins, Corona High School; and Ashley Harlow of Martin Luther King High School.

Bailiff - Katie Mercado, Paloma Valley High School in Perris Union High School District.

Clerk - Sarmad Bokhari, Corona’s Santiago High School.