{"id":153375,"date":"2026-02-06T06:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/153375\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:54:11","slug":"2-el-paso-high-schools-advance-to-state-mock-trial-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/153375\/","title":{"rendered":"2 El Paso high schools advance to state mock trial competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 Two El Paso high school mock trial teams are heading to state after earning top honors at the Region 19 Mock Trial Competition, according to the El Paso District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Valle Verde Early College High School placed first in the competition, and Northwest Early College High School finished as runner-up.<\/p>\n

\"Valle<\/p>\n

Valle Verde Early College High School awarded first place in Region 19 Mock Trial Competition. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Northwest<\/p>\n

Northwest Early College High School awarded runner-up in Region 19 Mock Trial Competition. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Diana<\/p>\n

Diana Hernandez from Valle Verde ECHS named Best Classroom Artist. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Diana<\/p>\n

Diana Hernandez from Valle Verde ECHS named Best Classroom Artist. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Madeline<\/p>\n

Madeline \u201cScottie\u201d Meza from the Young Women\u2019s STEAM Academy placed second in Best Classroom Artist. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Aiden<\/p>\n

Aiden Ramos from Eastwood High School, awarded Outstanding Witness. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\"Aruja<\/p>\n

Aruja Misra from Coronado High School, awarded Outstanding Advocate. Photo courtesy of the El Paso DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

In addition to the awarded teams, several students were recognized for their individual performances. Aruja Misra from Coronado High School was awarded Best Advocate. Adrian Ramos from Eastwood High School earned Best Witness honors. Diana Hernandez from Valle Verde ECHS was named Best Classroom Artist, and Madeline \u201cScottie\u201d Meza from the Young Women\u2019s Academy placed second.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s Office gives honorable mentions to El Paso High School and Franklin High School mock trial teams, who advanced to the semifinals in the Region 19 competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe District Attorney\u2019s Office was honored to host this year\u2019s Mock Trial competition in partnership with the El Paso Young Lawyers Association,\u201d El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said. \u201cAs a young person, I didn\u2019t know any attorneys and had little exposure to the legal profession. Participating in mock trial opened my eyes to a career path I didn\u2019t even know existed, and it truly changed my life. Seeing the dedication and preparation these students bring to the courtroom is especially meaningful to me because I know firsthand how impactful this experience can be. I am confident VVECHS and NWECHS will represent El Paso proudly at the state level. We look forward to continuing to grow and expand this program so more students can discover opportunities they may not have realized were within reach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valle Verde and Northwest ECHS teams, with courtroom artists Hernandez and Meza, will compete in the 47th annual Mock Trial Competition on March 6 and 7 in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Twelve high schools from across the region participated in the two-day competition, on Jan. 30-31, at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse.<\/p>\n

To prepare for the competition, over 150 students spent months analyzing a mock trial civil case that involved a plaintiff, witnesses and evidentiary materials, according to the DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents were tasked with developing both plaintiff and defense strategies, drafting witness examinations, preparing objections, and crafting opening and closing arguments. Competitors also studied relevant legal statues to effectively argue their cases,\u201d read the news release by the DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Each team participated in four preliminary rounds and presented their case before a panel of volunteer judges and attorneys from El Paso\u2019s legal community.<\/p>\n

For the final round, the panel of volunteers included Judge Ruben Morales of County Court at Law 7, Judge Linda Perez of County Criminal Court at Law 1 and Melissa Baeza of County Court as Law 3.<\/p>\n

The El Paso Young Lawyers Association and dozens of practicing attorneys and coaches helped make the event possible, according to the DA\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 Two El Paso high school mock trial teams are heading to state after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[12941,63405,63404,35568,63408,138,31717,140,23726,139,63406,63403,63407],"class_list":{"0":"post-153375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-das-office","9":"tag-diana-hernandez","10":"tag-early-college-high-school","11":"tag-eastwood-high-school","12":"tag-echs","13":"tag-el-paso","14":"tag-el-paso-district-attorney","15":"tag-el-paso-headlines","16":"tag-el-paso-high-school","17":"tag-el-paso-news","18":"tag-mock-trial-competition","19":"tag-northwest-early-college-high-school","20":"tag-valle-verde"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}