Paly’s mock trial team is aiming for its third consecutive county championship as it enters the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s county tournament from Feb. 3-11.

The mock trial defense team will face Pioneer High School on Tuesday; if the team does well, it will advance to elimination rounds scheduled for Feb. 23-25.

Last year, the team qualified to the state championship and placed ninth. This year, members are hopeful to make it to states again.

“I think we can do really well this year, and we are aiming to go to states,” junior attorney Nicolas Dumas said.

The new team has bonded after it advanced to states last year without an official coach.

“When Suzanne Stewart, who used to be the coach, stepped back two years ago, the team has been in the process of rebooting, and finding its own groove,” Dumas said. “The last few weeks, we really pulled together, and stuff started to click.”

Other team members agree that it is difficult to succeed without Stewart.

“Having to be independent really is a challenge,” senior defense attorney Yelly Bitton said. “People don’t realize how much effort goes into organization and coaching. Of course the team hurts from the lack of a coach, but everyone has come together and helps each other. It’s unique and pretty remarkable.”

This year, the team will be competing without former captain Andrew Nizamian, who graduated last year and competes in Mock Trial at Brown University, where he recently won an Outstanding Attorney award.
However, Bitton thinks that the newer team members can make up for his absence.

“Mock trial is a tremendous group effort,” Bitton said, “so when any individual is gone, it’s a big impact on the team. We have a lot of new sophomores on the team this year and they have all really done a great job learning the material and putting in the hard work.”

A mock trial team consists of two parts: the prosecution, whose job it is to prove the defendant’s guilt, and the defense, whose job it is to prove the defendant’s innocence. During a tournament, teams alternate between prosecution and defense. Opposing teams go through all of the procedures used in a real trial; teams will give opening and closing statements and examine and cross-examine witnesses. The competitors are given points by a panel of attorneys, and the team with the most points is declared the winner, regardless of the actual verdict of the trial.

In this year’s trial, the defendant is accused of burning down a building owned by the New Believers, a religious group. She is charged with arson and inciting to riot.