WOODLAND HILLS : All-Girl School Wins Mock Trial Contest

Watch out Marcia Clark, there’s a gang of 12 high school girls hot on your trail.

The mock trial team from Louisville High, a private all-girl school in Woodland Hills, won the Los Angeles County mock trial competition, qualifying them for the California State Mock Trial Competition next spring.

Coach Michael Telesca, a government and history teacher, said Louisville has won the state title two out of the last three years and is confident that this year’s team has a good shot at first place.

“If they perform like they did in the last couple of rounds, they have the opportunity of doing really well,” Telesca said.

The mock trials are sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization. The scoring is not based on the verdict but on the performance of the team members, Telesca said.

In October, the foundation issues the fictional case that each team will both prosecute and defend throughout the school year. This year’s is a murder case, where the defendant--a battered woman--is pleading not guilty due to self-defense, Telesca said.

About 52 teams in Los Angeles County have fought the case in eliminating rounds for the last month.

Louisville, taking the side of the defense, won the county competition over Polytechnic High School in Long Beach after five rounds of mock trials during the last month.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders, who heard the McMartin Preschool case, in which school staff members were charged with sexually abusing children, judged the final competition.