CU Mock Trial defends title at Utica regionals

The Cornell Mock Trial program capped an excellent weekend of competition with a victory at the American Mock Trial Association regional at Utica College of Syracuse University, Feb. 18-20. Cornell's team 436 finished the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record, and its victory marked the second consecutive year a Cornell team has won the regional tournament.

The win qualifies team 436 to compete in the April 14-16 American Mock Trial Association National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, for the second consecutive year. Cornell finished fourth in the national championship last year. That competition features the country's top 64 teams.

Cornell's victorious team in Utica included captain Keith Becker ('01, Industrial and Labor Relations), Martin Crisp ('01, ILR) and George Kroup ('02, Arts and Sciences) as attorneys, and Bethanie Ricketts ('02, Human Ecology), Omar Khan ('03, Engineering) and Laurie Batterson ('00, ILR), as witnesses.

There also were strong finishes over the weekend by Cornell's other two teams in the competition. Team 437, captained by Nadia Drake ('02, A&S), finished in a tie for fifth place, allowing it to advance to the Silver Flight championship tournament in St. Paul, Minn., March 31-April 2. And Team 438, captained by Melissa Kosack ('02, A&S), finished in seventh place.

The teams competing against Cornell were from Columbia, Dartmouth, Syracuse, Amherst, Hobart and William Smith, the State University of New York at Buffalo, SUNY Fredonia, Utica College, Clark and St. Bonaventure.

The case the AMTA assigned for the competition involved a defendant accused of murdering a friend with a garden shovel.

Several Cornell competitors were cited for excellent individual performances. Outstanding attorney awards went to Drake, Crisp and Kosack, who finished second, seventh and eighth, respectively; Cornell was the only school with more than two advocates in the top 10. Outstanding witness awards went to Bethanie Ricketts ('02, H.E.), second place, and Brent LaBarge ('02, A&S), sixth.

Team 436 is coached by Doug Rawald, team 437 by Janhabi Nandy and team 438 by Wendy Harris, all Cornell law students.

"This was an incredible weekend for Cornell Mock Trial," said Becker, vice president of the program for the Cornell Pre-Law Society. "Just to make it to Utica in the terrible snowstorm on Friday [Feb. 18] was an accomplishment in and of itself."

Cornell Mock Trial now finds itself in a bit of a dilemma. Having qualified for national competitions, the program is nearly broke, said Becker. It must raise between $4,000 and $8,000 to be able to transport the teams to the competitions, he said, and alumni donations as well as contributions from other sources are being sought.

Anyone interested in helping the program can contact Becker by e-mail at kab50@cornell.edu.