Spring Break
Order in the Court
Mock trial gets real
Brian Anthony
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News
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Lane Hamilton was killed.
Within an hour, Blitz News Network's Reagan Thomas, who was at the debate, reported that Walton had killed Hamilton.
Thomas refuted the report, claiming Hamilton had committed suicide.
Now Thomas is suing BNN for defamation.
Each year the CSU Mock Trial team receives a situation like this, whose fictional characters and events are given to them by the American Mock Trial Association to conduct a simulated trial.
Johanna Hamburger, a senior political science, started the Mock Trial team and economics double major, which is now in its third year at CSU.
Hamburger said that she participated in Mock Trial her senior year of high school and "thought it would be a good addition to the diversity of organizations on campus."
"It's aimed toward pre-law and criminal justice majors, but anyone and everyone can join."
"It's all skill development. I thought people would enjoy it."
This year's team consists of eightmembers and is mostly comprised of freshmen.
Much like a real trial, the team gets a case with affidavits and evidence. Each team picks teammates who they wish to represent their witnesses. Also, the team is expected to call witnesses, have opening and closing statements, and object. In practice, it is quite common to hear "objection," "admissible," "evidence" and other typical courtroom jargon creating a rather conducive environment to learning the ins and outs of the competition.
Like Hamburger, many of the members had participated in Mock Trial in high school and enjoy the flexibility and differences allowed at the collegiate level.
Alex Romberg, a freshman theater and psychology double major, said the main difference between the college team and high school team is that the collegiate team is much smaller.
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