Order in the court for victors in mock-trial finals

Move over "Boston Legal," there's another act in town.

At the YMCA High School Mock Trial regional championships Monday evening, Kirstin Jensvold-Rumage, a 16-year-old Franklin High School sophomore, addressed a packed courtroom with all the flair and confidence of a real trial lawyer — and beat the fictional prime-time attorneys to the punch with a handful of unscripted rebuttals.

During her pretrial remarks to the four-person jury of real-life lawyers and real-life King County Superior Court Judge William L. Downing, Jensvold-Rumage paced the courtroom in a fitted black suit, looking the part of a high-powered attorney.

"The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen, that Jesse Herring is guilty of murdering Eli Ganzer," she said, her voice wavering with pretended passion. "His motive? To save himself from being disbarred."

At the end of the nearly three-hour mock trial, Seattle Prep was awarded the King County regional crown. Both Seattle Prep and Franklin teams, however, will go on to represent the county at the state competition in Olympia later this month.

Mercer Island, Eastside Catholic and University Preparatory high schools also will compete from King County at the statewide competition.

Stephen Payne of Seattle Prep was named outstanding attorney. Taylor Tibbs of Franklin High was outstanding witness.

The competition itself was a battle between mock-trial titans.

"These teams are the best of the best," said Downing, who chairs King County's high-school mock trial. "The trial gets better every year. More polished, more professional."

The show itself was nothing short of a prime-time courtroom drama, only these teenagers weren't just hack actors — they really knew the law.

Defense attorney Erin Tobin, a 17-year-old senior from Seattle Prep, quoted the Washington State Constitution from memory, punctuating her point with a flip of her light-brown ponytail.

Prosecuting attorney Victoria Young, a 17-year-old senior from Franklin, rebutted by quoting a Washington State Supreme Court precedent.

Neither young woman referred to her notes.

For the past 19 years, the King County high-school mock trial has pitted seven-member teams of students against each other, in hopes that the competitions will serve as a civics class worth remembering.

"It's important that they learn about the court system," said Downing. "But they also learn how to look at issues from two sides ... and about the fundamental notion of fairness. That's a pretty big lesson."

Each fall, teams receive a packet of information about a fictional civil or criminal case. Sixteen high schools and more than 100 students in King County participate in the annual competition, which started Feb. 23.

Each school's team includes three prosecuting attorneys, three defense attorneys, a handful of witnesses and a bailiff.

Lolie Farinas, whose daughter hasn't been on Franklin High's mock-trial team since 2006, came to watch Monday night "just for fun."

"You go to these things and you can't believe they're in high school. They're so professional," Farinas said. "It's great entertainment."

Better, perhaps, than "Boston Legal."

Haley Edwards: 206-464-2745