CYPRESS : High School Team Wins Mock Trial

Cypress High School, competing against 22 other high schools from around the state, won the State Mock Trial Competition last week in Sacramento.

Justice Allen E. Broussard of the California Supreme Court presided over the final trial between Cypress and Riverside Poly High School.

The 1990-91 Mock Trial case was developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation and used by all schools in California. This year, the case involved a fictitious hit-and-run accident with injuries, according to Cypress coach Marc Rozenberg.

“Their winning is an example of the hard work the dedicated kids put in,” said Rozenberg, who has coached the Cypress team for five years. “These are bright kids who are eager to the learn about the law.”

Rozenberg said that he and two other coaches, all with the Orange County district attorney’s office, spent 25 to 30 hours with the students teaching them as much about law as possible.

“Law can be very confusing and complex,” Rozenberg said. “And a lot of things have to be stressed to the students to make sure they’ve got it. That’s the most important thing about this competition: It gives the students a complete understanding of the law whether they want to be lawyers or not.”