At their February 15, 2006 meeting, the FUSD Board of Education acknowledged A.B. Miller, Fontana, and Kaiser High School's Mock Trial Teams. 

The Mock Trial program is a collaborative effort between the offices of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and the District Attorney to provide students within our county a working knowledge of legal institutions and the judicial system.  Students research a case developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation and prepare for trial as attorneys, witnesses, defendants, bailiffs, and clerks.  This year’s case is a murder trial featuring a pretrial argument on the Fourth Amendment.

Judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and private attorneys volunteer their time to provide guidance in courtroom procedure and trial preparation.  These volunteers preside over the trials and score the events.

More than 400 students representing 25 high schools competed in the 24th annual San Bernardino County Mock Trial program which held four rounds of the preliminaries on November 15, 22, 29 and December 6 t the Foothill Law and Justice Center in Rancho Cucamonga and the county courthouses in Victorville and San Bernardino.  Redlands High School broke a tie with Apple Valley and became San Bernardino County’s top winning team in in the finals with its eighth title and will go on to represent the county at the state finals on March 17-19 in Riverside.

At an Awards Ceremony held on January 19, 2006, at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, participants were recognized for their outstanding performances during the countywide competition.  The FUSD students that received awards were:

A.B. Miller High School

• Sandy Benitez - Best Prosecution Witness
• Michelle Lumban-Goal - Best Pretrial Defense Attorney
• Sayda Salas - Best Defense Witness
• Patricia Stewart - Best Defense Attorney
• Daniel Wheeler - Best Prosecution Attorney

Fontana High School

• Jeremy Allen - Best Prosecution Attorney
• Lucia Ponce - Best Defense Witness
• Erica Peteja - Best Defense Attorney

Kaiser High School

• Irving Gaeta - Best Defense Attorney
• Lisa Orwig - Best Prosecution Attorney
• Marian Saddi - Best Defense Attorney
• David Scow - Best Support Role, Clerk
• Vanessa Senteno - Best Prosecution Witness
• Jocelyn Sida - Best Defense Attorney

Congratulations to all the FUSD Mock Trial Teams and their Coaches!

A.B. Miller High School's Mock Trial Team
Kay Lemos, Deborah DeSplinter and Cathy Leonard - Coaches

Fontana High School's Mock Trial Team
Sharon Mackey - Coach

Kaiser High School's Mock Trial Team
Eliane Fakotoumafi and Kendra Huerta - Coaches