Competition Overview

The annual Alaska High School Mock Trial Competition presents teams of high school students with the chance to learn about individual liberties and the legal process and to explore career opportunities within the law by participating in a simulated trial against other teams.  Each team consists of six to nine members who play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a simulated bench trial setting.  There are four preliminary rounds to the competition, with each round lasting approximately two hours.  Over the course of the round, students must make opening and closing arguments, examine and cross-examine witnesses, introduce evidence, and face and defend multiple hearsay or related objections.  Teams are evaluated by a three-person panel of attorneys and law clerks. 

Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in being a volunteer judge, please contact Ryan Fortson at fortson@gci.net.

Thank you.



Problem Overview

Robert and Mary Armstrong were the patrons of the arts in the university city of Moose Valley, Alaska. When they died tragically in a plane crash, the fortune fell to their daughter Grace Armstrong to manage. On the evening of October 13, 2009, a shot rang out in the Armstrong house. A neighbor, Drew Parsons called the police, and when Officer Riley Smith arrived Grace Armstrong was found dead inside, a gunshot wound to her head. Avery Armstrong, Grace’s brother/sister, was called to identify the body. Following an investigation by Detective Alexi Franklin, Avery was arrested for the murder of Grace. Dr. Quinn Leslie, a forensic psychologist, suggests that Grace may have committed suicide, but the report of the coroner, Dr. Jan Kowalski, discounts this theory. Retired detective Pat Garcia, on the other hand, believes that Grace may have been murdered by an intruder other than Avery Armstrong.