Highschool participants pose alongside their attorney coaches and advisors marking the end of the 2025 Mock Trial competition. (Photo courtesy of Annika Farin)
This past Saturday, DoDEA’s yearly high school mock trial competition, held at the Yokosuka base courthouse, started at 8:30 a.m., bright and early. Led by around 8 different attorneys and legal professionals from Yokosuka and Sasebo, 5 teams composed of around 10 students each took to the stand to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they delivered the best case in the courthouse.
Kinnick’s Defense team 1, led by coaches Charles Moore and John Aguon, took first place in the competition this past Saturday, and Kinnick’s Prosecution team 1, led by coaches Regina DiMaggio and Drake Stobie, took second place.
Part of Defense team 1, playing not only the case’s defendant but also an attorney, high school senior Nicole Cornejo emphasized, “I feel very satisfied to know my team won the mock trial competition. My team had a few setbacks, with some people needing to take on a few more roles at the last minute, but we powered through and had a few more meetings leading up to the competition.” Although she had to take up new roles to fill in gaps within her team, Cornejo believes, “our trust in each other is what helped us win!”
Kinnick’s Defense team 1 engaged in a battle with Kinnick Prosecution team 1 for a victory in the Mock Trial 2025 competition. (Photo courtesy of Annika Farin)
Kinnick 11th grader Erick Ricardo, who played a key role as an attorney part of Prosecution team 1 stated, “Second place is a really big accomplishment considering we won all of our rounds! I’m really proud of my team and the work they put in -- extra practices, lunch meetings, and many trial runs.”
On top of the hope of winning the competition as a whole, students participating were grateful for all the things they’ve gained from the experience.
Freshman and first-year mock trial student Gabby Strauss highlighted, “First year overall, I absolutely loved it. Next year I’ll probably want to be an attorney, but I built relationships and now I have a bunch more friends who share the same interests as me, and then next year as an attorney, I hope to build even more skills. But this year as a witness, I think I just focused on public speaking and built so many skills that I never thought I would use.”
Senior Samuel Montgomery, who had a role as an attorney part of Kinnick’s Prosecution team 2 added, “I think the best part of the mock trial competition is kind of the way it throws you out in front of a jury and it kind of forces you to grow your voice, you know, you can’t talk quietly when you’re up on the stand and it really puts you in the spotlight, you kind of become a better talker and presenter through that pressure.”
Lorraine Sokpoh, part of Defense team 1, delivers her team’s closing statement to the jury. (Photo courtesy of Annika Farin)
As to what is coming for the mock trial competition next year, lead mock trial coordinator Dominique Lapole underlines, “I hope the students will realize that it’s a lot easier than it looks on TV and that more people will go into the practice of law. I think that a lot of people are afraid that it’s a profession that, for some reason, they may not be qualified to do or might be too tough. I wasn’t a particularly good student in school, and I figured it out, and I think that every student can as well, so, I hope that students will be encouraged to participate more. Next year, I hope to see a lot of new faces in the mock trial competition. It will be stronger than ever, we think bigger than ever, and we’re ready to support the needs of the students in learning about the law.”
