Four local high school teams emerged victorious from Wednesday night’s semifinals of the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial competition. The final four teams that will face off in tonight’s last round are:

• Saint Bonaventure

• Trinity Pacific (Silver)

• Oaks Christian (Gold)

• Santa Susana (Locke)

Saint Bonaventure and Trinity Pacific will be competing for 1st and 2nd place. Oaks Christian and Santa Susana will be competing for 3rd and 4th place. The four remaining teams are among 30 from throughout Ventura County participating in this year’s Mock Trial. Tonight’s final round of competition is open to the media and the public.

WHAT: Ventura County Mock Trial Finals

WHEN: Thursday, February 28, 2019 from 5:15 p.m. to approximately 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:  Ventura County Superior Court – 800 South Victoria Ave., Ventura

Awards Ceremony

The Mock Trial awards ceremony will be held on Monday, March 4 at 6:00 pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center at 800 Hobson Way. The public is invited to attend and media coverage is welcomed.

About the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial

Mock Trial brings courtroom drama to life as students take on the major roles of a criminal case, including attorneys, witnesses and even bailiffs. The students present their cases before actual local judges who volunteer for the competition. Local attorneys volunteer as coaches and scorers. The competition is coordinated annually by the Ventura County Office of Education. This year’s fictitious case is People v. Klein, which involves a defendant accused of making threats on social media and making a false report of an emergency to police.

High schools participating this year are: Adolfo Camarillo High School, Agoura High School, Buena High School, Calabasas High School, Channel Islands High School, Fillmore High School, Grace Brethren Jr/Sr High School, La Reina High School, Newbury Park High School, Nordhoff High School, Oak Park High School, Oaks Christian School, Oxnard High School, Rio Mesa, Royal High School, Saint Bonaventure High School, Santa Paula High School, Santa Susana High School, Simi Valley High School, St. Augustine Academy, Thousand Oaks High School, Trinity Pacific Christian School, Ventura High School, Villanova Preparatory School and Westlake High School.

The winner of the county competition will go on to the state mock trial contest March 22-24 in Sacramento. Ventura County has taken first place at the state level in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

This year’s Ventura County Mock Trial logo artwork was created by Alexandra Clark from La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks.

Additional information about the 2019 Ventura County Mock Trial is available at vcoe.org/mocktrial.