Congratulations to the Mock Trial Team from Littleton High School! They earned second place at the regional tournament on Friday, February 10, 2023, beating historically juggernaut teams from Regis, St. Mary’s, and Kent. The LHS Mock Trial Team advances to the State Competition, which will be held this week on March 3 and 4 at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Parents and community members are invited to view the court cases in action (in person)!

Mock Trial is a competition in which students simulate a real trial with a case that remains the same through the entire academic year. A judge conducts the trial, and there are three jury members from the legal field who volunteer their time and provide feedback using this Criteria for Scoring.

The case alternates between a civil and a criminal case every year. Teams consist of six members: three attorneys and three witnesses. These six people will go against six other people from a different school. Teams must prepare both sides of the case (prosecution/plaintiff and defense) for every competition.

This year's case is a criminal case, and here is the case summary from the Official Mock Trial Case 2022–2023:

The 9th Judicial District (Pitkin County, i.e., Aspen) is prosecuting a college admissions scandal case that the Department of Justice turned down. The Defendant, Blake Katsopolis, is a wealthy parent who utilized Kyler Gibbler’s college admission counseling service to help get their child, Cameron Katsopolis, into the College of Colorado. The parent went to the College of Colorado and desperately wanted their child to go there. College of Colorado, which calls itself the Yale of the Rockies, is extremely selective, with less than a 14 percent admission rate. Blake Katsopolis claims to only have known of and used Gibbler’s legitimate services, but Gibbler, who helped the FBI trap and prosecute dozens of wealthy parents from across the country in return for a reduced sentence, claims the Defendant was fully aware of the scam. Although Kyler Gibbler may have used some improper methods, it was determined that Cameron Katsopolis would have been accepted to College of Colorado on their own merit. 

Littleton High School students on the Mock Trial team include:

• Anika Srinivasan (8th) - time keeper
• Sofia Millner (10th) - Lawyer and witness
• Virginia Frau (12th) - lawyer
• Connor Johnson (10th) - lawyer
• Rowan Ingraham (9th) - witness
• Isabella Borrego (12th) - lawyer
• Grant Hawerlander (11th) - witness
• Emi Manlove (8th) - time keeper
• Meher Sandhu (8th) - time keeper
• Noah Orcutt (10th) - witness
• Cheyenne Nicely (12th) - lawyer and witness
• Emma Roskelley (9th) - witness and time keeper
• Catherine May (12th) - lawyer and witness
• Caroline May (9th) - lawyer
• Keen Schledorn-Mott (10th) - lawyer