High School Mock Trial Team Takes Home Championship

The courtroom was quiet as Judge Ron Rose made the announcement. Then, the celebration began. For the third time in four years, the Chaminade High School Mock Trial Team took home the Los Angeles County Championship on Wednesday night at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. After months of preparation and six rounds of competition, Chaminade met Diamond Bar High School in the finals. The defense team, led by attorneys Chris Collins ’19, Serena Gill ’21, and Armen Ajemian ’21, argued their case in front of Judge Rose and a panel of legal professionals. The team set the tone with outstanding performances including MVP of the round Claire Fairtlough ’19 as the defendant.

The middle school team reached the finals for the third straight year facing Hollenbeck Middle School. In a closely contested round, Chaminade finished as LA County Runner Up of the junior division. Eighth-grader Samantha Pofsky ’23 received the outstanding witness award for her portrayal of the defendant Reagan Klein.

More than 2,500 students on 143 teams competed in this year’s competition making it the largest in the entire country. This year’s case, People v. Klein, involved a college student charged with making a criminal threat and false report of an emergency.

The high school team will now represent Los Angeles at the State Championship in Sacramento at the end of March.

The members of the 2018-19 high school team are Armen Ajemian ’21, Sophia Canzona ’21 , Dario Cardenas ’21, Madison Cheramie ’22, Chris Collins ’19, Matthew Delgado ’19, Claire Fairtlough ’19, Hannah Hayes ’21, Emma Heafner ’22, Violet Josephson ’21, Priyanka Khanna ’21, Isabella Koujakian ’22, Andrew Langrudi ’21, Rachel Lee ’22, Madison Marker ’21, Luke McNulty ’22, Michaela Nam ’20, Victoria Parks ’21, Katherine Schultz ’21, Sammy Shahinian ’21, Skylar Takac ’21, Brendan Teehan ’21, and John Van der Wel ’21. The team is coached by Jennifer and Bert Bader.

The members of the middle school team are Owen Cappelletti ’23, William Cerreta ’23, Ethan Croutch ’23, Hallie Egan ’23, Gia Frank ’23, Jesse Goldman ’23, Alex Grenn ’23, Joseph Hernandez ’23, Eliana McIlvery ’23, Mikayla Nazarian ’23, Gabia Paliulis ’23, Sam Palmeri ’23, Samantha Pofsky ’23, Kameron Rabizadeh ’23, and Ryann Schaffer ’23. The team is coached by Jill Teehan.