Tam Wins Marin County Mock Trial Championship

defeated Terra Linda High to win the Marin County Mock Trial Championship for the 16th year in a row Saturday afternoon at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael. With a razor-thin margin of victory, Tam advances to the state finals in Riverside on March 25 and 26 to square off with the 30 best teams from all over California.

The schools faced one another in two trials in two courtrooms in which each team argued for the prosecution and the defense. More than 1,100 points were handed out by the group of local attorneys who scored the competition, which was presided over by Marin Superior Court judges and commissioners.

Tam won by a single point.

According to Tam High teacher and mock trial team advisor Michael Krause, Tam won by a score of 575-574, making the Hawks’ margin of victory .0008. Points are handed out to each member of the team on a scale of 1 to 5.

“This was the most evenly matched trial and the most rigorous trial we’ve had all year by far,” Krause said. “It literally does not get any closer than this.”

This year’s case was People v. Woodson, in which Jesse Woodson, a resident of Pikesville, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and with violating a new anti bullying and cyber bullying statute.

The Red-tailed Hawks came into the final day’s competition with lead-in rounds against both Branson and Marin Academy on the heels of two wins last weekend. It won both lead-in rounds to advance to the final against Terra Linda for the second straight year.

The team will now take a short break before ramping up for the state finals, where Tam placed sixth in 2010. Winners of the California Mock Trial Tournament will advance to the National High School Mock Trial Championship, set for May 5-7 in Phoenix. Tam won the national championship in 2005.

Tam's prosecution team featured pretrial motion attorney Oliver Ramin, prosecution attorneys Lindsey Sloan and Madeleine Ball, along with prosecution witnesses Hannah Holiday, Mark Hill, Alexis Agoustari, Elena Ricciardi, and clerk Sophie Danielson. The defense was anchored by pretrial motion attorney Jack Budish and defense attorneys Claudia Shapiro, Ivy Ryan and Brett Russell. It also includes defense witnesses Sander Lutz, Anna Lipman, Thibault de Saint Phalle and Rachel Ferm.

To watch a video feature on the Tam High mock trial team, or see the attached video.