Riverside County Managing Deputy District Attorney and Mock Trial Steering Committee Chairperson, Melissa Moore, presented Santiago High School student, Maggie Orellana, with the Outstanding Prosecuting Attorney award. Maggie has been selected as a summer intern in the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Congratulations, Maggie!

Mock Trial involves students arguing cases in front of real judges, and scored by real attorneys. The competition is open to all students in grades 9 through 12 enrolled in public and private high schools in Riverside County. Teams consist of 8-25 students filling the courtroom roles of defense and prosecution attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and more. For the first time in the history of Riverside County Mock Trial, the role of courtroom artists has been integrated into the competition.

This year’s case, People vs. Franks, revolves around the trial of Jordan Franks, a young actor who finished a run of performances of the Shakespeare-adaptation Macbeth at Sea on the cruise ship Heart of the Ocean. Franks is charged with robbery and battery of Franks’ fellow actor, Billie Scher. The alleged crime is the subject of the fictional court case that nearly 400 students from high schools in Riverside County have been arguing during multiple rounds of competition in Indio, Murrieta, and Riverside courtrooms since January 26, 2023. 

The semi-finals will be held on Tuesday, February 21, and the 2023 champion will be named after the final round on Thursday, February 23, 2023. The final round will take place at 6 p.m. at the Riverside Historic Courthouse (4050 Main Street, Riverside).