Students assume roles of attorneys and witnesses presenting a case at mock trial Tuesday, April 29.
The Auburn University Mock Trial Competition Team will have a scrimmage civil case Tuesday, April 29 at 5 p.m. in Foy 208.
Brent Traylor, president of the Auburn University Mock Trail Competition and junior finance major, said starting in the fall, the American Mock Trial Association gives the team a packet.
All the teams are given the same packet, and they alternate between civil and criminal cases.
He said the mock trial plays out like a real court case, and teams do not know if they are the defendant or plaintiff until they get to the competition.
Traylor said the case the team has now is a civil case and the case packets have information like preliminary statements and witnesses’ affidavits.
Dorothy Littleton, who teaches POLI 5970 Special Topics: Mock Trial Competition, said the team is composed of the 18 students who are in the class.
The team has met the SGA organization requirements and was granted provisional status.
Traylor said they have had a class this semester, and they practiced the rules of evidence and proper procedures.
He said in class they are only able to practice for an hour and 15 minutes, so it will be interesting to be able to play the trial all the way through at the scrimmage.
“I think we’ve all learned a lot this semester, and we’ve gotten comfortable with one another and learned a lot more about the rules of evidence and proper courtroom etiquette,” Traylor said.
He said throughout the year there are several voluntary invitational competitions, and there is a regional competition in February.
He said at the regional competition, teams can qualify for nationals which are in April.
Littleton said the Auburn University Mock Trial Competition Team will compete in the its first regional competition at Middle Tennessee State University in November 2008.
They will also participate in the AMTA Regional Competition in February where it hopes to qualify for nationals.
John-Eric Dyer, a junior in pre-law and economics, said at the mock trial on Tuesday, two teams will compete.
He said each team will have four witnesses and five attorneys participating in the trial.
Dyer said the team has been taking the mock trial class to learn the rules and procedures to have an effective trial when they compete.
He said this is their third case, and the mock trial on Tuesday is like a final exam.
“(I am) excited but also nervous because we have not preformed in front of a large group of people,” Dyer said. “We have only done it in class.”
He said the class has been fun, and they have learned a lot about trials.
Littleton said the trial will give the team an opportunity to perform publicly.
She said it will also let other students who are interested in mock trial see what it is about.
She said the students have been working really hard to prepare for the trial
There will be three judges at the trial, all of whom are lawyers. Cliffton Perry, a political science professor; William Hardy, an agricultural economics professor; and Littleton will all judge the trial.
Students who are interested in more information on college mock trials can visit the AMTA Web site at www.collegemocktrial.org.
