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Mock trial teams take top honors

Members of UD’s mock trial team included (standing from left): Bill Gratton, Kristine Campanelli, Hannah Messner, Mary Akhimien, Megan Denver and Katelyn Hufe, and (seated from left) Sharon Goldstein, James Flippin and Lyn Sweetman.
4:12 p.m., Dec. 9, 2004--Student teams from the University of Delaware were among the top five finishers in the 2004 Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Conference, Mock Trial and Law Expo.

During the tournament, held Nov. 4-6 in Washington, D.C., teams from 20 schools participated in three rounds of competition. The first two rounds featured an opportunity for teams to prosecute and defend. Prosecution and defense teams for the final round were determined by a coin toss.

“Best Prosecution Team” honors went to Mary Akhimien, AS ’06, and Lyn Sweetman, AS ’06 (both as attorneys), and Sharon Goldstein, AS ’06, and Kristine Campanelli, AS ’07 (both as witnesses).

“Second Place Overall Winners” went to the UD team of James Flippin, AS ’07, and Megan Gibson, AS ’06 (as attorneys), and Megan Denver, AS ’07, and Katelyn Hufe, AS ’06 (as witnesses).

Sweetman, the mock trial committee chairperson, said the UD chapter of Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law was established last spring by current president Hannah Messner, AS ’05, who had heard about the upcoming national competitions in Washington, D.C.

Once enough members were available for the competition, the UD chapter began conducting a series of two-hour practice sessions on Monday evenings in preparation for the event, Sweetman said.

“We spent the first few practices deciding what our theory of the case was on each side, and which witnesses we were going to call,” Sweetman said. “The witnesses were required to know their statements and be prepared to answer both direct- and cross-examination questions from the attorneys.”

Students participating as trial attorneys were required to write direct and cross-examination questions for each individual witness, plus an opening and closing statement, Sweetman said.

“The work was divided up equally,” Sweetman said. “This way, the attorneys had an equal part in each side of the case.”

The mock trial case involved a teenage boy accused of intentionally infecting his long-term girlfriend with the AIDS virus. The defendant was charged with criminal homicide, Sweetman said.

“The possible prosecution witnesses included the victim’s mother, an investigative officer and a friend of both the victim and the defendant, while the possible defense witnesses were the defendant, his mother and his best friend,” Sweetman said. “The evidence, including the witnesses and attached exhibits, heavily favored the defense, but it made for a nice challenge to construct a prosecution.”

Besides building communications skills by presenting their cases before a large group of people, mock trial participants also gained knowledge of the trial process and the rules of evidence, Sweetman said.

“You literally learn how to think on your feet and how to communicate ideas in a controlled setting,” Sweetman said. “I would definitely recommend participating in mock trial competitions at the undergraduate level for persons thinking about going to law school.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Duane Perry

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