Louisville High Wins Mock Trial Competition

Louisville High School captured the top prize in the 21st Annual Los Angeles County Mock Trial Championship, held recently at the L.A. County Courthouse.

The three-time city champions defeated Harvard-Westlake School in the final of six rounds of the competition, which began in November. They were declared the winners based on their overall performances in the series of trials judged by local attorneys.

Louisville senior Christine Khalili-Borna was named the best defense attorney at a post-trial awards ceremony attended by Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

The championship trial, argued before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, involved the murder of one high school student by another, and addressed complex constitutional issues, Louisville teacher Michael Telesca said.

“The benefits of participating in the competition is that in addition to learning about the law, the students also learn to think quickly on their feet,” Telesca said. “They learn to sacrifice their egos for the good of the team.”

The champions will travel to Riverside in March to compete for the state title, which they won in 1993.