Mrs. Angela Lacoste’s classes held a mock murder trial in the library on November 17-18. 

This mock murder trial assignment was not for a competition, but to learn the aspects of how a trial runs, giving students a chance to see how court trials worked, even if they weren’t able to get their desired outcome.

“The purpose of the mock trial is to teach through hands on learning how the Texas criminal justice system functions,” Lacoste said. 

Over the trial preparation days, students had to collect evidence, a coffee mug, journal entries, coffee beans, and video evidence to name a few, and piece together their stories.

During the first period sessions, the court’s jury, after hearing the case and seeing the evidence presented by the teams to the best of their abilities in court, came to the conclusion of a “not guilty” verdict. 

Over the course of this assignment, students learned the way the Texas criminal justice system worked, the value of having solid evidence, and the need to be prepared in court.

When asked what she would’ve liked to see more of in the trial, Mrs. Lacoste stated “more preparation. There were some teams that were not fully prepared.”