After a season of scrimmages and practice, the mock trial team, led by HUGAP and AP European History teacher Homa Lewis, has reached its verdict.

At the Jan. 27 district meet, senior Zach Brown was awarded as one of the top 12 witnesses, senior Brandon Su was namedtop attorney with senior Polly Roth a close second, and the team qualified for the regional finals.

“I am immensely proud of them,” Lewis said. “This is really a student-led team. They’ve really stepped up and they’ve worked hard and they have led the team to great success.”

In October, the real life death of a Florida teenager in the summer of 2017 after cliff diving off a rock quarry was issued as the case for everyone in the region to compete around.  

The case was constructed over who should be held responsible for the accident.

“I just love the competition aspect of it,” Roth said. “I like it because there’s so many social groups that come into mock trial. It’s so distinct. you’ve got the debaters and the theatre kids, the academic people, the athletes. Everyone can learn a lot from mock trial.”

The regional finals took place Feb. 3 at the Dallas County Courthouse.

“We went against a really good team,” Roth said. “It was very close but we lost in the first round. It had to be neck and neck. They were very prepared but we were also very prepared. It was disappointing of course, but we accomplished a lot this year, so we all walked out of there with our heads high.”