May it please the court: Mock Trial at GC

May it please the court: Mock Trial at GC

By AIMEE HOUVENAGLE Staff Writer

Every Thursday night, you will most likely find me on the 3rd floor of the LRC at Mock Trial practice. This is my 7th continuous year of Mock Trial, having started as a high school freshman.

If you don’t know what mock trial means, here’s a quick Crash Course: Mock Trial™. Teams of six to twelve members get a case packet containing 60+ pages of witness statements, exhibits and pre-trial documents. They also get a set of rules of evidence that one can use to object and get evidence in with and a set of guidelines for teams and competition set by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). It is then the team’s job to write material for both sides of the case, and the team(s) compete as both sides at least once during scrimmages and twice during official competitions.

Mock Trial has shaped a lot of my personality and identity through school, but it has also taught me so much. Of course, there is the public speaking aspect, which is extremely useful in any profession I may choose, but there is the less glamorous side of it— a LOT of reading and writing. If you assume that each case is 60 pages each, I’ve poured over 300 pages of dense legal wording, not counting the ones I did in class that I didn’t take to competition in high school.

Good thing I like reading! I’ve written many a direct examination, cross examination, opening statement and closing statement.

Last semester while doing debates in Ethics, when the possibility of closing statements came up, I proceeded to write a trial worthy closing in 30 minutes. I then went ahead and asked my professor, and she confirmed that a debate closing and a trial closing were different, and we probably wouldn’t have time to do closings anyway.

I’ve been known to throw legal jargon around in casual conversation and in an intense game of Mafia. Several of my online accounts, characters and plushies have been given names of witnesses since they are written to allow any gender to portray them.

As silly as this is, Mock Trial has actually helped me in more ways than one. It has confirmed my desire to go to law school and greatly improved my writing and reading comprehension skills. I have found great friends in my teammates and made lifelong memories at the practices and competitions. It has been a great conversation starter and even a fact I can use when I am asked during ice breakers.

I don’t regret any of the headaches, tears,frustration, panic or stress I’ve experienced during my time as a mocker, and I will always be proud of my Mock Trial experience.

If you have any questions about Mock Trial in general, or are interested in joining, please email me!

The Georgetown Mock Trial Team of 18/19 pose after a long day of competition!

THE GEORGETONIAN/AIMEE HOUVENAGLE