Young Legal Eagles Soar to Top in Mock Trial Competition

This trial had all the elements of a TV miniseries.

The characters included a swastika-adorned security guard and a defiant animal-rights activist. The issues included use of force, freedom of expression and hate crimes.

And then there was the 13-year-old prosecuting attorney, Joel Estrada. The legal profession’s answer to TV teen doctor Doogie Howser?

Actually, Estrada was on the 11-member team of seventh- and eighth-graders from Hosler Junior High School in Lynwood that walked away with top prize in the 14th California Mock Trial Competition held last month at the Los Angeles County Courthouse.

Estrada was named top prosecuting attorney by a panel of professional judges and attorneys who scored both the individual performers and the 20 competing teams.

“We had a lot of embarrassing moments during our practices and the trials,” Estrada said. “Sometimes it was hard to keep a straight face in the courtroom. But everyone worked really hard.”

The mock case involved a security guard charged with beating a black man while guarding a research laboratory from animal-rights demonstrators. The guard was wearing a swastika. The defense sought to prove that the guard acted in the line of duty. The prosecution argued that the guard used excessive force in a racially motivated attack.

Students played the roles of prosecution and defense attorneys, witnesses, and officers of the court. Judges selected the winning team by awarding points for how well team members performed their roles.

Estrada captured the top honor after shattering the credibility of the guard who was trying to deny the beating.

“It was a challenge to put the pieces together for each trial,” said 13-year-old team member Leon Salazar. Connie Quintero, 13, said that at times she got flustered because she had memorized so much. “You had to think fast and not get confused.”

College Hospital in Cerritos has appointed Mercedes Garcia as medical director of a new program created specifically to treat Latino and bilingual patients. Garcia, who is also an assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine, will be responsible for designing and supervising the program.

Neil E. Allgood of Los Alamitos, a Red Cross volunteer for 15 years, has been appointed national chairman of disaster services for the organization. Allgood, 67, will be responsible for preparing and monitoring budgets for disasters, appointing volunteers, and coordinating disaster-aid programs in this volunteer position. He owns an emergency management consulting business and has been a consultant to the State of California Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Kenneth (Bucky) Dennis, vice president of Quiet Cannon Montebello Inc., has received the YMCA Human Dignity Award for initiating college scholarship programs, providing free meals for the needy and supporting other volunteer programs in the Montebello area. Dennis is one of the owners of the Quiet Cannon restaurant in Montebello and Cannon’s in Long Beach.

Jesse Morgan Jr. received a certificate of merit from the Lawndale City Council for helping save his teen-age sister, who almost drowned in a pool last month. Jesse, a fourth-grader at Kelly Elementary School in Compton, pulled his sister out of the pool and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

ARCO has presented retired systems analyst Mike Hanna the company’s 1991 Volunteer Service Program Chairman’s Award in recognition of his volunteer work at a Whittier hospital. The award includes a $2,500 grant, which the La Habra resident plans to give to the hospital, Presbyterian Intercommunity. Hanna also coordinates the Adopt-A-School program for the Pasadena Unified School District.

James Canfield has been named senior event coordinator at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

Daniel Jolly, a junior at Lakewood High School, recently attended the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington. The conference was attended by 350 top high school students throughout the nation.

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