The Mock Trial club won a competition against Cupertino High School on Thursday, January 9. The defense team for Mock Trial competed against Cupertino’s prosecution team.

The case argued, People v. Buschell, centers on Ryan Buschell, who is charged with violating the California Concealed Carry Statute by murdering his peer, Becca Abeles. The club attorneys were able to get a not-guilty verdict for the both the count of violating the Statute and the count of murder in the second degree.

Sophomore Aryana Salehi played the witness and defendant, Ryan Buschell, and received all fives, the highest score that can be received from a scoring attorney. The rest of the witnesses received fives and fours in their scores. Senior Ellie Baer played witness Sasha Fain, and Anica Nangia played expert witness Dr. Jan Shartsis.

Alec Aaron played A.G. Prout, who is a friend of the defendant, while sophomore Nick Bousse was in charge of performing cross examinations on the other team’s witnesses.

“I think the win from last Thursday will give us a lot more confidence,” Mock Trial President senior Yasmeen Serhan said. “This year, we’re a team composed of mainly new members … and the fact that we went against a pretty reputable team, I think we have a lot to be proud of.”

The next Mock Trial competition will be next Thursday, February 16 and will involve the club’s prosecution. If the club wins its next competition, it will make it to the quarterfinals.