Friday, January 30th—for the first time, 19 students from CORE Butte competed in a county-wide mock trial competition, which is a simulated court proceeding that replicates real trial procedures, based on a fictional case file.  This took place in the North Butte County Courthouse, and they were up against two other high schools, Chico High and Las Plumas. CORE entered two teams, a defense and a prosecution team, complete with attorneys, witnesses, a clerk, and a bailiff. 

For round one, CORE’s prosecution team delivered an incredible performance against Las Plumas. Our talent and preparation were evident from the very beginning, with Luke McComb’s pretrial motion, for which the other team later awarded him MVP. 

Devon Stewart received an award for his performance as Detective Rio Sacks, who investigated the murder of Morgan Sears, the host of a reality cooking show. 

The trial was abruptly interrupted by a loud repetitive keyboard riff caused by an issue with the livestream, which, while not an unpleasant sound, delayed the court’s proceedings for a good two minutes. After the chiming subsided, CORE proceeded unshaken by the rude interruption and went on to win the case, with the defendant being found guilty of first-degree murder by Judge Mark Emmons. 

During a brief intermission, the celebrations of the first team intermingled with the nervous murmurs of the second, mentally preparing for round two. “It feels like I’m about to go on a rollercoaster,” said Lowell Werblow III, one of CORE’s three defense attorneys. “Like, I’m scared, but I know it’s gonna be really fun.” Several of the other participants jokingly offered to switch places with me in anticipation of their court performances. 

Soon enough, it was time to head back into the courtroom to face Chico High’s prosecution team. This time, the proceedings were overseen by a different judge, who coincidentally shared a last name with the victim, Sears. Round two was marked with fire coming from both ends of the attorney table, both schools showing a bit of attitude towards each other, and with Judge Sears often getting caught in the crossfire. Continuing their rivalry from Poetry Out Loud, a recent poetry recitation contest, CORE’s Moriah Henderson and Chico’s Annalisa Pedrinazzi locked horns, culminating in their impressive closing arguments, where their poetic skill was again made evident with dramatic language and dynamic speech. After a lively performance from both teams, the defendant—this time portrayed by Mona Hendricks, CORE senior— was found guilty. 

After a final brief intermission, all three schools entered the courtroom for the presentation of awards by the court scorers, who all have careers in law of some kind. From the first round, Apple Bolton received recognition for the Best Prosecuting Cross Examination for her performance as an attorney. For round two, Mason Ames and Daisy Kammerer were awarded for their performances as Takoda Morrison and Jean Kronstadt, respectively. All three of CORE’s defense attorneys were recognized: Katelyn Merrick received Best Defense Opening Statement, Lowell received Best Defense Direct Examination, and finally Moriah received Best Defense Cross Examination and Closing Argument, as well as MVP, awarded by Chico High. 

Then came the time to announce the overall winner of the 2026 Butte County Mock Trial competition. The air was buzzing with the weight of bated breath before it was revealed to be Chico High, with CORE Butte taking second place by just one point. This particular margin of victory/loss was ironic because the team had discussed it beforehand. Because they did not feel quite prepared to go to the state level in what is their first year of competition, a few members jokingly suggested a preference for losing, but only by one point. And they did just that!
CORE’s Mock Trial team put quite a bit of effort into preparing for this competition, meeting all throughout the first semester and even during winter break to make sure they would be in peak condition. Julie McComb, Luke McComb’s mother and a local practitioner of law, was CORE’s attorney coach, and she worked tirelessly alongside our own vice principal, Christine Henderson, to train the team of 19 on how, essentially, to be attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs. Needless to say, CORE Butte’s students expressed endless gratitude to both of them for their sacrifice of time and outpouring of knowledge. 

CORE Butte’s mock trial team came to the courthouse ready to take on the task in front of them, and ultimately, they came out with precisely the reward they had been training so hard for.