JUSTIN FOX BURKS
JUSTIN FOX BURKS
awards, while Dyer earned All-American Witness honors. Each academic year, AMTA releases a case problem to be used by all competitors, and then releases case updates throughout the competition season. Some mock trial cases are taken from actual court cases, while others are written specifically for competition by contributors. During a trial there are three witnesses and three attorneys, opening statements, witness direct examinations and cross examinations, and closing arguments. Each aspect is timed and scoring is based on knowledge of the rules, ability to argue, and convincing portrayals. “It’s a very condensed version of a trial,” Pohlmann says, where “the plaintiff or prosecution is trying to meet a burden of proof with three witnesses in 25 minutes.” Rhodes carries four teams. In a typical year, 50 hopefuls start out each fall with half returning from previous years and half being new. Those new to the program will start with Trial Procedures, a class born from mock trial and worth four credit hours. Inclass trials are conducted as a way to evaluate students for the course as well as to try out possible competitors. “As it usually plays out, of the new kids, the ones who just don’t enjoy it or that can sense that they’re not particularly good at it will opt out,” Pohlmann says. “It’s pretty rare that we actually cut somebody who wants to continue.” By the middle of October, the class comes to an end, and those still standing are ready for the ensuing invitational season. Four “invitational teams” work through three invitational tournaments, followed by a reconstitution of those teams. The reconstituted “regional teams” then attend rhodes.edu
one last tune-up invitational tournament in January. In February, the AMTA competition begins with 24 Regional Tournaments, and, from those, only the top two of the four Rhodes teams can move on to qualify for the Opening Rounds Championship Series, which begins in March. Students still on the team in the spring will earn one credit hour, which can be repeated up to four times. “The most you can get in the time you’re here is two full course credits for all that work, so it is an extracurricular for the most part,” says Pohlmann.
Paul Hubbell ’13, Mathew Jehl ’13, and James Todd ’13 face the judge at the Memphis regionals.
SUMMER 2013 • RHODES
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