With the start of a new year, the Ohio State Mock Trial team can’t help but be hopeful about the future.
After a surprising second-place finish at the University of Iowa Invitational in November, the team has gained confidence and expects to perform well at the regional mock trial tournament in February.
“We are a newly competitive program and in the Midwest region we are really starting to gain some recognition,” said Caitlin Reddy, a fourth-year in international studies and one of the team captains.
In addition to the Iowa Invitational, the 26-member team coached by Monica Killough and Kara Keating has competed at Case Western Reserve University, Eastern Kentucky University and also hosted the annual Scarlet and Gray tournament in Columbus.
Mock trial “is an academic competition where students assume the role of either an attorney or a witness, and argue a trial of a fictitious case,” said Reddy, who has been a member of mock trial since her sophomore year.
The competitions are modeled after actual court cases.
“The trial starts and each side delivers an opening statement. The prosecution presents its case in chief and witnesses, and the defense gets to [cross-examine] them. The defense presents witnesses of their own, and the prosecution can cross them if they want,” Reddy said. “Prosecution and defense each deliver closing statements followed by a rebuttal. Each competition is about two to three hours long.”
Just like lawyers, the mock trial members have to be creative and flawless public speakers. They also have to show a great deal of acting ability.
“There are three witnesses and three attorneys in every case that we act as,” said Sarah Hill, a third-year international relations and diplomacy and African Studies major. “We are given an affidavit and we have to make up our own questions and answers to the other team’s questions based off of it.”
All mock trial teams are given the same case, which they work on for an entire school year.
This year’s case has proved to be exciting for members, as it is a murder trial.
“It has to do with a production company. The company has three partners, and one was found dead, buried at the bottom of the cliff,” said Brittany Pace, a third-year finance major. “The other two partners are being investigated for the murder. The defense must work to defend one of the partners, while the prosecution can work with a plea bargain for the other partner.”
The case is complicated by the fact that a witness to the murder is legally blind.
“It is definitely a challenge,” Hill said. “It is fun though, and it is the closest thing you can get to being in an actual trial.”
More than 50 people tried out for the team, and competition between members continues throughout the season as they battle one another for spots on the three teams that compete at the
invitationals.
Despite this competition, the team remains close-knit.
“My favorite thing about mock trial, by far, is the people I’ve met,” Pace said. “Some of my teammates have become very close friends of mine.”
As with most teams, there are also rivalries. While OSU football looks forward to Michigan, mock trial looks forward to Miami University.
“They have a whole building devoted to mock trial, they get school credit for it, they get a lot of funding and get to fly to all of their competitions,” Hill said.
OSU’s mock trial team does not receive school credit and gets little funding. They often have to pay for food and traveling expenses on their own.
Pre-law majors are not required to be a part of mock trial, but the experience has encouraged some to pursue law.
“Mock trial is what really made me want that career,” Pace said. “If I get that type of thrill from winning a fake trial, I feel like I have a real passion for doing something like this for a living.”
In addition, mock trial can look good on a law school application.
“If you want to be a lawyer, it’s great, and it looks good on a law school application. I really want to be an attorney, so it’s great practice for giving speeches and being an actual attorney,” Hill said. “We do things as close to real as possible.”
Those interested in joining or learning more about the team can check their Web site at buckeyemocktrial.org.
The team has upcoming competitions at Columbia University, Ohio Northern University and at their rival school, Miami, before the regional tournament in February.
No matter how tough the competition or the drama can get, the team always manages to have a good time.
“If MTV created a reality show about mock trial, it would be better than ‘The Real World,'” Reddy said. “All the teams have drama and craziness. It’s all part of the fun.”
