The Lincoln Log

While roaming the halls and asking students their opinion on mock trial, they all responded with the exact same words. “Mock trial? What’s that?”

“It’s a cross between a sport and academics,” Bobby Crotwell said. Crotwell has coached mock trial in his second period public speaking class for the past three years.”

Mock trial has only been at Lincoln for the past five years, which may be the reason why most students don’t know about it. During mock trial, students debate in mock, or fake, court trials. They practice vigorously in order to beat their competitors from other San Francisco high schools in hopes of advancing to county finals.

In mock trial competitions, teams of four students work as attorneys while four other students act as witnesses for a case. For one week, they act as a defensive team against another schools prosecuting team, and then the roles are switched the following week. They earn points for each case, which are tallied in the end, and the team with the greatest amount wins.

The team just finished working on a hypothetical case about a student named Casey, accused of planting a bomb in a garbage can in an attempt to kill several popular students who supposedly have been harassing him. In order to prepare, the team has been practicing on Saturdays and has been working with their sponsors Sedgwick, Deter, Moran, & Arnold Law Firm, at the Embarcadero. The attorneys work with the team from 10 a.m. until four p.m. to make sure they are ready.

The team went against Mission high school first. Unfortunately they lost their case against the more experienced team, who has had the program for more than 20 years. They also lost the second case against S.O.T.A.

Although they lost both cases, the team wasn’t dissuaded.

“We were about to forfeit but [we didn’t],” said Junior Lilly Ho, “it just proved to us that nothing could stop us.”

The team worked too hard to just give up. Lincoln may not have won their overall cases, but Ho managed to win Prosecution Witness of the Year. She was surprised to win, but felt very proud of herself.

“We all worked very hard, and it was a great experience,” said Ho.

Mock trial is a fun activity and also helps to benefit those who participate in future careers. Former Lincoln Student Vanessa Wong was on the team last year and got a part time job at a law firm.

“The attorney was looking for someone older with more experience,” said Crotwell, “[but] she could talk to this attorney on his own level, and this got her the job.”

By mentioning her previous experience in mock trial, she convinced the attorney that she was the better candidate for the firm.

Mock trial is more than a club or a class. It’s tough like a sport. For those who want to improve their speaking skills, compete, or simply like to argue, see Crotwell in bungalow 14 and join the team.