麻豆区

Mock-trial team headed to national tournament after successful performance at regionals

From left: Margot Cardamone '14, Austin Farneth '12, Juliana Carter '13, Andrew Chesley '13, Mary Kate Skehan '12, Josh Handelsman '12, Peter Wright '12, Will Nelligan '14 and Jenna Long '12 competed against teams from Fordham University, Georgetown University, Lafayette College and Swarthmore College at the regional tournament in Easton, Pa., and, for the fourth-consecutive year, advanced to the opening round of the American Mock Trial Association鈥檚 National Tournament.

The case that earned Dickinson鈥檚 mock-trial team its fourth-consecutive bid to nationals had all the elements of a classic courtroom drama鈥揳 defendant charged with the drunken-driving murder of the district attorney鈥檚 daughter, testimony from colorful witnesses and crafty attorneys able to use unanticipated exhibits for their own advantage.

Dickinson鈥檚 team is familiar with the case, having argued it at four mock-trial competitions so far this academic year. They brought home first-place honors at the Patrick Henry College Invitational in January and had a third-place finish at the University of Rochester Invitational in February.

Part of their winning strategy is familiarity through practice, says senior Mary Kate Skehan.

鈥淭here's only one way to get good at this, and that's doing it as often as possible. Mock trial is kind of a constant exercise in revision,鈥� says the English major from York, Pa. 鈥淭he more you revise your material, not only does it get better, but you actually become more adaptable to unexpected arguments and rulings in trial.鈥�

Making their case

The American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) makes available to its members鈥搉early 400 U.S. colleges and universities鈥搊ne case that becomes the foundation for all AMTA competitions throughout the academic year, including the national tournament, in which the Dickinson team will compete March 17 and 18 at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Mock-trial member Will Nelligan 鈥�14 says the team is focused and has already begun practicing. 鈥淕enerally, we practice two hours every weekday one to two weeks before each tournament. Further out, we practice twice a week and occasionally scrimmage at the courthouse downtown. As for nationals, we are practicing every day, including鈥攆or some鈥攐ver spring break,鈥� he says.

Mock trial鈥攎uch like a competitive sport鈥攊nvolves strategy, coaching and a team playbook. Nelligan says AMTA keeps teams 鈥渙n their toes鈥� by occasionally modifying case material. Teams will often introduce unexpected evidence during competition. Skehan, one of the team鈥檚 prosecution attorneys, recalls a move Lafayette College made during the AMTA regionals.

鈥淭hey called an expert accident reconstructionist who I cross-examined, and the reconstructionist brought along with her a demonstrative鈥攁 poster used during her testimony to demonstrate some of the points she was making鈥攖hat I had never seen. They used photographs and bullet points from the expert's testimony and some of the information they had was inadmissible. There was a long objection argument and we ended up getting half the demonstrative constructively redacted, which was a huge win for our case,鈥� says Skehan. 鈥淚 was able to use the redacted demonstrative in my closing to make points that I wanted to make. Basically, it was kind of like a new piece of evidence that I hadn't seen before and had to turn around to make work for our case.鈥�

Skehan鈥檚 skillful cross-examination and her overall performance at regionals earned her the coveted All-Region Best Attorney honor. 鈥淭his is the first time I've ever been ranked first on every ballot, and we had a really difficult field of opponents, so the award feels great,鈥� she says. 鈥淕iven the difficulty of the teams we faced and the skill of their attorneys, I'm more proud of this award than any other I've ever won,鈥� adds Skehan, who was named an All-American Best Attorney at the 2010 national championship tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

Frank Williams, a first-year student from Carson, Calif., also was recognized by AMTA judges as an All-Region Best Attorney.

Star witness

Nelligan, a political-science and history double-major from Portland, Maine, was named an AMTA All-Region Best Witness and was the only person at the regional tournament to qualify for an award as both a prosecution and a defense witness.

In determining the best witness for the prosecution and defense, judges consider the witness鈥檚 ability to further the facts of the case, as well as personality, sense of humor and wardrobe. Nelligan鈥檚 sense of style, in fact, got a nod from the judges. 鈥淥ne judge wrote 鈥榞reat socks鈥� on my ballot,鈥� he says.

Nelligan, who as a high-school student earned two bids to the American Legion Oratorical Competition national tournament, says he channels his inner actor on the witness stand. 鈥淚鈥檝e always enjoyed acting but haven鈥檛 been able to find time for a spot in a play or drama club. This seemed like the perfect balance. A large portion of being on the witness stand is improvised and a lot of fun because the characters give me a lot of room to insert bits and pieces of funny personalities,鈥� he says.

Nelligan credits his participation on the mock-trial team for polishing skills that will be important in his career, which he hopes will jointly involve law, history and politics. 鈥淚've become a better collaborator, debater and public speaker, and I've developed incredible relationships with my peers and our coaches.鈥�

Dickinson鈥檚 nine-member mock-trial team will compete in the opening round of the AMTA National Tournament with teams from Cornell University, Georgetown University, Lafayette College, St. John鈥檚 University and the University of Pennsylvania. Visit the Dickinson Web site for news on the team鈥檚 performance. 

Published February 29, 2012