Palmer High School finishes 2nd in state mock trials

Palmer High School’s Mock Trial team was looking Saturday for a second chance to compete in the national contest after the six-member group was disqualified last year because of a scheduling conflict with International Baccalaureate exams.

Palmer fell just short, finishing second to Lakewood High School in the championship round of the Colorado Bar Association’s 25th annual state competition at the El Paso County Judicial Building, Palmer’s team won the state competition last year but was disqualified because some team members had IB exams at the same time as the national competition. Mock trial rules didn’t allow substitutes — a rule that changed this year.

“I would love to get another chance to make up for that,” said Ian McDavid, a Palmer senior who said he plans to eventually attend law school at either University of Colorado or Denver University, just before the championship round. “My sister did mock trial for a while, and I was sort of interested in it. After the first year, I really loved it and wanted to foster the skills I had learned.”

Palmer was one of four Springs teams, along with Cheyenne Mountain, Doherty and Sand Creek high schools, competing with 16 others from across the state to be one of 44 teams at nationals May 6-8 in Philadelphia.  High school students throughout the state try the same “mock” case in real courtrooms in front of actual judges with the help of volunteer attorney-coaches, using affidavits from which student witnesses testify in the trial.

Frances Johnson, a Colorado Springs attorney who helps coach the Palmer team, said team members must put in almost daily preparation for much of the year, often several hours at a time, to compete at the highest level in mock trial.

Mark Qualls, Palmer’s mock trial director for the past 13 years, said the team’s success started about five years ago with a group of talented students that drew more attorney volunteers and helped the team make the state competition for five consecutive years, including finishing second in 2008.

Riley Chambers, another senior Palmer team member, said he first heard about the mock trial team during daily announcements. He was hooked after the first meeting, and three years later he was helping the team defend Palmer’s 2009 state title.

“I have learned that I may have a bright future in law,” Chambers said. “This has taught me about how humans work.”