Transcript The American Mock Trial Association Welcomes You

Welcome to the 2015
Tournament Evaluator Orientation
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• This is a civil action between two neighboring
families arising from the shooting death of one of
their children by the other – in one of their homes;
• You are now in the State of Midlands. Midlands has
its own statutes, codes and case law.
Please do not apply any
independent knowledge
you may have of applicable law.
PARK v. DURAN – A CIVIL CASE
In 2010, Sydney Park invited classmate
Jesse Duran to hang out at the Parks’
home. Both children were 11 years old.
The Parks keep a gun in their home.
That morning, the gun was discharged,
killing one of the children. The victim’s
parents have filed a wrongful death
lawsuit against the shooter’s parents.
MERITS OF THE CASE
• This case allows teams to argue a variety
of theories of liability and defenses
• You are NOT here to decide liability!
Rather, you are here to:
• Evaluate the students’ understanding and
negotiation of the facts as they are
provided.
The Merits of the Case
• Mock trial cases are designed to be fact balanced
so that each side has roughly equal material with
which to work.
• So it is important to focus on each sides’
understanding and negotiation of the facts as they
are provided as opposed to additional facts that
you believe the participants should have or how
you believe a jury would vote based on the merits
of the case.
Your Role
• Your role is to evaluate the student competitors.
• Some students will be attorneys and some will
be witnesses, but every student will be
evaluated.
• Evaluating consists of two things:
SCORING and CRITIQUING
Your Ballot Guides Your Evaluation
• You will be given a 5 page ballot that will
allow you to critique every function you
evaluate and to give a score for every function.
• The ballot is a carbon form so make sure not to
lay pages on top of one another while writing.
• The students will fill out all of the names on
the ballot (with the exception of outstanding
attorneys and witnesses on the blue score
sheet).
Page 1
• Page one begins with
criteria to use when
evaluating. We will come
back to this later. At the
bottom you will see a
place to comment on each
of the opening statements.
Please provide only
narrative critique, all
scores are to be written on
Page 5.
Page 2
• Page 2 covers the plaintiff’s
case and is broken into 3
main sections because the
plaintiff will call 3
witnesses. Within each
section there are 4 boxes that
allow you to comment on the
performance of 1) the
directing attorney, 2) the
crossing attorney, 3) the
witness on direct and 4) the
witness on cross. Again,
scores are written on Page 5.
Page 3
• Page 3 is set up like
page 2 because it
covers the defense’s
case. Like the
plaintiff, the defense
will call 3 witnesses.
Page 4
• Page 4 covers closings.
The plaintiff will go first
and then the defense. The
plaintiff will then be
allowed a rebuttal. There
is also a catch-all area for
writing overall comments
about the presentations.
Page 5 – The Blue Scoring Sheet
• All scores are written on
this sheet. Note that
every function must be
scored and that a space
is provided for every
function. At the bottom
are spaces for ranking
the top 4 attorneys and
top 4 witnesses in the
trial. You MUST list 4.
Scoring
• Each attorney and witness is scored on a scale from 1-10.
• 10 is the best, 1 is the worst. Fractions and decimals are
disregarded so use only whole numbers.
• IT IS VITAL THAT YOU SCORE AS YOU GO!!!!!!!!!!!
• Ranking of the top attorneys and witnesses at the bottom of
Page 5 is a wholly subjective (but MANDATORY) call
for each judge to make.
• IT IS VITAL THAT
YOU SCORE AS
YOU GO
What to Look for When Evaluating
• Attorneys should be evaluated on their knowledge of
case facts, courtroom procedure, the rules of evidence,
and courtroom decorum.
• Witnesses should be evaluated on how convincing
their portrayals are and how well their testimony
corresponds with their side’s case theory.
• Remember that Page 1 of the Ballot has detailed
criteria to use in scoring attorneys and witnesses.
What to Expect In the Round
• You will be evaluating a civil jury trial. If you are
on a 3 judge panel, 2 of you will evaluate
(complete ballots) and one will act as the trial
judge. If you are on a 2 judge panel, both of you
will evaluate and one of you will also act as the
trial judge.
• If you are evaluating you should expect to be
addressed by the teams as a juror.
If You Are the Presiding Judge
• You will rule on objections based on the Midlands Rules of
Evidence which closely mimic the Federal Rules. The objection
exchanges that arise from them are helpful in evaluating
attorney knowledge.
• In addition to the rules of evidence, the students have been given
statutory law and case law to use. These are the only codes and
law they may use. Do not apply precedents or rules not
provided in the case materials.
• Witnesses are considered to have been already sworn and all
documents are presumed signed.
• Formal certification of expert witnesses is not required, but not
prohibited. Expertise is established by laying the appropriate
foundation.
• Keep the trial moving but allow for a brief break between cases
in chief and before closings if time permits.
Motions
•
The attorneys can make a MOTION TO STRIKE.
•
The attorneys can also make a MOTION TO
CONSTRUCTIVELY EXCLUDE WITNESSES, though
this rule may or may not apply to the designated state’s
or defense’s representative.
•
No other motions can be made.
Invention of Fact
• Occasionally there will be a dispute as to whether a
witness has unfairly invented or extrapolated a fact. No
objection to such an invention is recognized; the remedy is
impeachment. 2 basic rules govern invention of fact.
• On direct examination a witness is limited to the facts
contained in or reasonably inferred from his or her
affidavit.
HOWEVER
• If on cross examination a witnesses is asked a question, the
answer to which is not contained in the witness’s affidavit,
the witness may answer with any answer so long as the
answer does not contradict other facts in the witness’s
affidavit and is responsive to the question asked.
Time Constraints
• To keep the trial moving there are time
constraints on openings, closings,
directs, and crosses.
• Teams provide their own timekeepers
that keep track of their time.
Rebel Trojan Volunteers
• Tournament volunteers (like the person
giving this presentation) may come into
your round. This is part of their tournament
duties.
• You should not infer any connection
between a tournament volunteer and either
team in a round.
THANK YOU FOR
JOINING US!