VERDICT REACHED
Mock Trial Team advances to state trials

Diboll High School Mock Trial Team brought home many awards from a Tyler meet Saturday, Feb 9., including best advocate and best witness.

Diboll High Schools Mock Trial team won first place at the East Texas Regional Meet in Tyler on Saturday, February 9. and advanced to the state competition for the second time. This is the first time in Diboll High school's history that a team has won First place to advance to State. Team members are: Esteban Gonzalez, Rachel Oates, Carlos Palomo, Jonathan Coleman, Francisco Salas, Jorge Ojeda and Stephy Cortes. Each judge nominates the best advocate and best witness from each round. Rachel Oates won the overall Best Advocate award and Jonathan Coleman received the Best Witness award. Melissa Hannah, a Lufkin attorney and a 1998 Diboll High School graduate serves as the team's attorney coach. Teacher coaches are Mary Ingram and April Bunn.

The Texas High School Mock Trial Competition is a state wide program sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association. Only the first place team fro each region competes at the State Meet which will be held in Dallas on March 6, 7, 8. Students who participate in Mock Trial prepare the roles of witnesses and attorneys and the strategies for a hypothetical case to present in a court of law. Approximately twenty teams will be competing at the Dallas County Courthouse. The top four teams at State competition will be eligible to receive scholarships and to advance to National Competition

Benefits of the mock trial competition extend beyond the rewards of competing against one's peers or winning a round of competition. Mock Trials are exciting, but more importantly, they provide a valuable learning experience. Students receive practical first-hand knowledge about courts and trials which may be helpful to them should they ever serve as jurors or witnesses in a real trial. The students also improve their proficiency in basic skills, such as listening and reasoning, and better thinking and communication skills.