SCCTLA is proud to announce that Santa Cruz High School won the 2024 Santa Cruz County Mock Trial, following a nail-biting finals event that resulted in a rare tied score. In adherence to Mock Trials rules, presiding Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati broke the tie between Santa Cruz High and co-finalist Pacific Collegiate School. Santa Cruz High is now eligible to compete in the 2024 California Mock Trial Finals.
As runner up in the countywide event, Pacific Collegiate School may be eligible to participate in the wild card lottery to appear in the statewide finals. Wild card eligibility will be determined by nonprofit Teach Democracy, which manages the statewide event, after March 1.
In its first year participating in Mock Trial, Pajaro Valley High School earned the inaugural Paul Marigonda Award presented by the Santa Cruz Trial Lawyers Association. Honoring the late Santa Cruz County Superior Judge Paul Marigonda, the award recognizes a team for demonstrating exceptional courage, commitment and integrity.
This year, 13 judges and 47 attorneys volunteered their time in support of the 2024 Santa Cruz County Mock Trial. A total of 173 students from eight schools and four districts participated. Facilitated by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (Santa Cruz COE) and supported by Santa Cruz County Trial Lawyers Association, Mock Trial provides students throughout the county with opportunities to engage in law and justice education.
Students participating in this academic competition take on roles of attorneys, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, and more to try a fictional court case in front of real judges and scoring attorneys. This year’s fictional case, People v. Clark, was a trial involving the in-house counsel of a billion-dollar medical technology company charged with murdering the company’s chief executive.
Santa Cruz County Trial Lawyers Association is honored to continue to support this program that gives youth a rare opportunity to learn about the criminal legal system.
