LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two local high school teams are preparing to go head-to-head in court this week as part of the annual Mock Trial competition.

The competition, now in its fourth year, will take place Friday, Feb. 12, in Lake County Superior Court, located on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.

Competing once again this year will be Middletown and Upper Lake high schools.

The first trial will begin at 9 a.m. in Department 1, with Judge Michael Lunas presiding.

Judge Stephen Hedstrom will preside over the second trial, which will begin at 1 p.m. in Department 4.

The public is invited to attend.

The competition involves the teams taking turns presenting the prosecution and defense in a fictional criminal case.

The Constitutional Rights Foundation, the California Mock Trial's founding organization, reported that this year's case is “People v. Hayes.”

The case brief explains that the fictional Hayes – a student at Central Coast University on a track and field scholarship – faces a felony charge of murder for the homicide on May 15, 2014, of Lee Valdez, a campus security guard, who was attempting to restrain another track team member who also was a suspect in theft cases.

Key matters for the students to explore in the case are the defense claim of justifiable homicide, allegations that Hayes had sent a threatening message against Valdez to campus security as well as pretrial issues involving the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

The winning team will advance to the state competition in Sacramento March 18 to 20, according to the  Constitutional Rights Foundation.

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