Furman Mock Trial

I write to solicit your assistance in judging at the Carol N. Ney National Mock Trial Tournament, Friday-Sunday, 26-28 March 2010.   This is the second year that Furman has been selected by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) as one of eight locations to host opening rounds of the national championship tournament.  Each of the 23 regional tournaments will advance eight teams to an opening round championship site.  Six teams will qualify from the Furman site to the national championship final, which will take place in Memphis, TN, 16-18 April.  The Ney National will host the teams advancing from the regional tournaments in Orlando, Chapel Hill, and Birmingham.  We have received the honor of hosting a national-level event in large part because of you—the many judges who regularly take part in the event—as well as the major financial support of Furman alumni Jim and Carol Ney, the tournament’s signature sponsors.

This year’s case, State of Midlands v. Jackie Owens, is a criminal matter.  Jacob Bennett, Jackie Owens, and Casey Maxwell joined forces to create Trifecta Entertainment, a major movie studio. Trifecta was about to embark on its most profitable year. But then Bennett went missing.  Police later discovered Bennett’s corpse buried at the base of Calkins Cliffs.  The Grand Jury has indicted Jackie Owens and Casey Maxwell charging that acting alone, together, or in complicity with others did purposefully, knowingly, or extremely recklessly kill Jacob Bennett, by shooting him.

Like all mock trial cases, there are many twists and turns for the students to negotiate.   The case allows for multiple strategies to be employed by the State and the Defense.  The fact pattern features numerous witnesses, including a car dealer, entertainment executive, crime scene investigator, movie star, and a “professional student.”  All cases take place in Midlands, a mythical Midwestern jurisdiction.  In addition to seeing an interesting case being argued, you will also witness very good teams testing their mettle against each other. The teams qualifying for the Ney National will be among the top 1/3 of all teams nationally; over 600 teams compete in the regional tournaments, with 192 teams advancing to the opening rounds of the national championship.  All teams want to make the finals in Memphis, so they will bring their “A” game to Greenville in late March.

Twenty-four teams will be assigned to the Furman site. Thus, I must recruit 144 members of the Bar to score and preside at the trials.  We would be most honored if you would judge at this event.  The tournament’s four rounds are scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, 26 March; at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, 27 March; and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, 28 March.  All mock trial judges will receive a brief orientation to the case and the rules of the competition before each trial.  The 2010 tournament will be staged on Furman’s campus.

You will be paired with at least one other attorney or judge and then watch a trial lasting approximately three hours.  Judges usually provide a brief critique of the trial after submitting scoring sheets.  The total time commitment (including the orientation session) for each round is four hours.  Lunch will be served on Saturday.

To register as a judge, go to http://www.furmanmocktrial.org.  Once you have accessed the site, click on the Judges Banner, which will take you to the registration form.  If you would rather speak to someone involved with the tournament, contact the political science department assistant, Paige Blankenship, at (864) 294-3547, and she will assist you.  We would greatly appreciate receiving your response by Friday, 26 February 2010.  You can also contact me via e-mail at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

Once your response has been received, you will be sent a confirmation letter that contains the time slot to which you’ve been assigned.  This information will be distributed to you electronically.

I appreciate your willingness to consider supporting Furman University in this fashion.

Sincerely,



 
Glen A. Halva-Neubauer
Dana Professor of Political Science
Director, Mock Trial and Public Service Internship Programs