Piedmont High School’s Mock Trial team won the Alameda County championship on Feb. 29, beating archrival Bishop O’Dowd. As the Alameda County winner, PHS will now advance to the state competition in Los Angeles March 22-24.
Team members are: Anna Caputo, Arianna Kortum, Ayaan Jajodia, Chloe Graham, Claire Warner, Elena Stevens, Ellie Bleharski, Ellie Schleuning, Emily Williamson, Gus von Metzsch, Hallie Burden, Hannah Sullivan, Heiko Sexton-Boer, Ella Hughes, Jacques Saldanha, Jane Hempeck, Kira Pan, Lizzy Long, Luisa Cole, Maddy Hill, Mary Schickedanz, Ryo Woltag, Sasha Jerez, and Sophie Santander.
Winning teams from 36 counties will present People v. Clark, the trial of Tobie Clark who works as in-house counsel for Sunshine Medical Components, Inc. (“SMC”), a billion-dollar medical technology company. Clark is charged with the homicide of SMC’s chief executive officer Kieran Sunshine. The prosecution argues that Clark should be convicted of first-degree murder. The pretrial issue centers on the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
The competition is hosted by Teach Democracy, formerly known as the Constitutional Rights Foundation.