Palo Alto High School’s mock trial team is likely to progress to the County quarterfinals after its competition tomorrow against Valley Christian High School.

Each mock trial team competes in four competitions before qualifying for the quarterfinals. Paly is currently 3-0 and will compete in its final match up against Valley Christian High School tomorrow. The judges who decide which teams will progress to the next round are considering a number of teams that have a 3-1 record; a few of these teams will be chosen to continue on to the quarterfinals based on the point margins from previous competitions. Due to the large margin of points by which Paly won its second trial, the team has a good chance of progressing regardless of tomorrow’s outcome.

On Tuesday Feb. 5, the prosecution narrowly beat Saratoga high school by two points ending with a final score of 210-208. The following Thursday, Paly’s defense bulldozed over Sobrato High School, winning by an enormous margin of 39 points, and finishing the round with a score of 251-212. Paly then went on to win its third competition 253-245 on Monday against Archbishop Mitty.

“It was closer than we wanted for the prosecution on Tuesday but it was the biggest margin I’ve ever seen for the defense on Thursday,” senior captain Andrew Nizamian said. “That really reflects the time, energy, and effort of the team.”

The mock trial team is split into the defense and the prosecution. During competition, Paly’s defense faces off against the opposing school’s prosecution and vice versa. A school wins based on the scores received by three judges who are usually volunteering attorneys from around the area. The judges score each participants performance and the scores are compiled to determine the winner.

According to junior Yelly Bitton, the verdict of the case is inconsequential to the winning of the competition as the cases are usually tilted to one side. Therefore the ruling that the judge makes has no effect on the final score of each side.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Bitton said. “Lots of people graduated this year – we only had 6 returning members out of the 17 people on the team. Andrew really taught everyone everything. It was amazing how he took all these people who knew nothing about mock trial and made them a winning team.”

This year’s case, “People vs. Palmer,” was given to the mock trial team in October. The scenario plays out as follows: Alex Palmer is charged with the murder of Jes Markson, a successful and prominent man who lives in Hollywood. The prosecution is trying to prove that Markson stole a script from Palmer who then killed Markson, while the defense is trying to prove Palmer’s innocence.

“It’s really something you have to prepare for a lot. We spend a couple of hours each weekend and during lunch,” Nizamian said. “We have a fairly small, tight group of kids, and we bond.”

The team has been preparing for the competition since October. Initially it practiced once a week but the practice time picked up around competition time.

“We have an incredibly strong team for next year,” Nizamian said. “This year is harder because our long-time teacher Suzanne Stewart left, and it has been hard to carry on the team without her.”

The defense will compete against Valley Christian High School tomorrow.