4 Schools Advance in Mock Trial Contest

Students from four high schools--La Reina, Camarillo, Buena and Westlake--will face off Monday night in the final round of the Ventura County Mock Trial competition.

The finalists beat out teams from 12 other schools during the first two rounds of competition earlier this week, when they argued a fictitious case in front of real Superior Court judges.

The third and final round begins at 5:15 p.m. Monday at the Ventura County Hall of Justice.

The county champ will compete in the state finals March 31 to April 2 in Sacramento. La Reina placed first in the county last year, and Westlake came in first the year before.

Students are judged on their courtroom skills and the persuasiveness of their arguments.

After the second round of competition Thursday night, individual winners received awards. La Reina won two top awards: Kelly Drew was selected best prosecution attorney in the county and Camillo Chang was picked best prosecution witness. Santa Paula’s Peter Krause and Camarillo’s Brent Nibeker tied for best defense attorney, and Missy Craig of Santa Paula won best defense witness.

Kirsten Jackson of Oxnard was chosen best pretrial defense attorney, and Seung Lee was selected best pretrial prosecution attorney.

In the courtroom artist competition, Chelsea Neifert of Hueneme placed first, Adali Arana of Fillmore second and Courtney Murphy of La Reina received an honorable mention.