DUE TO THE HIGH VOLUME OF YOUTH MOCK TRIAL APPLICANTS, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT ANY ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS.

The State Attorney’s Office is now accepting applications for their Annual Youth Mock Trial.

The four-day program will take place June 23rd through June 26th  from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow. This program gives students going in to the 11^th and 12^th grade an opportunity to work with prosecutors from the State Attorney’s Office and learn how a criminal case makes its way through the criminal justice system. Students will attend court hearings and study current cases to see how the law is applied.

Please fill out the application attached and submit to communications10@sao10.com or mail to the Polk County Courthouse. Deadline to apply is June 10th, 2025.

 

Mock Trial Flyer

Mock Trial Program_APPLICATION

Jevon Berrien, 19, was convicted by a Polk County Jury of First-Degree Murder, Attempted Armed Robbery with a Firearm and Attempted Murder in the First Degree. On June 7^th, 2021, at Gordon Heights Park in Bartow, Berrien and his co-defendant Margus Johnson, 17, set up a drug deal with the victim and had no intention of paying for the drugs. When the victim arrived, Berrien and Johnson ambushed the driver and passenger, firing multiple gunshots killing the driver. The vehicle crashed into a chain link fence and playground equipment. State Attorney Brian Haas thanks Assistant State Attorney Michael Nutter and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case.