Raleigh Hightower
Lifestyle Editor
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The Murray State Mock Trial team has once again overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and brought home several awards in the virtual American Mock Trial Association Regional tournament.

The competition was hosted on Zoom by Colorado College and the United States Air Force Academy on Feb. 26 and 27. Some other notable participating universities include Emory University, University of Chicago, University of California Irvine and Texas Christian University.

This competition consisted of 22 schools and was the first round of the American Mock Trial Association’s (AMTA) national tournament structure. 

The Mock Trial team finished the competition with an overall win-loss record of three winning ballots and five losing ballots. 

The team received the AMTA Spirit Award, and team member Travis Conner won an “outstanding attorney” award. The ATMA Spirit Award is given to the team that best exemplifies the ideals of honesty, civility and fair play.

In addition to competing in Georgia State University’s virtual “Concrete Jungle” tournament last semester, the Mock Trial team has also met every Tuesday and Thursday this semester to prepare for the AMTA Regional tournament.

Mock trial is an imitation of a court trial. It gives participants a play-by-play of how a court trial moves and operates.

The case the Mock Trial team prepared for involved an aggravated arson in which a bar owner burned down his bar for insurance money and accidentally caused the death of a firefighter. Students worked to both defend and prosecute the bar owner.

Students involved with mock trial serve either as attorneys, character witnesses or expert witnesses. Attorneys are tasked with questioning witnesses and cross-examining opposing witnesses.

The team’s student attorneys included junior political science majors Case Thomason, Ashlyn Tracy and Travis Conner. The group of student attorneys prepared for the tournament by studying affidavits, case files, preparing questions for witnesses and training witnesses in their roles.

“I loved all of the witnesses who put their hearts into mock trial but it is a lot of work,” Thomason said. “You should have seen how much time my fellow attorney, Ashlyn Tracy, put in. You can tell who put in the work and I thank all my witnesses and Ashlyn for that.”

Tracy said, the team performed well and worked diligently to overcome several challenges ahead of the competition.

“I believe that the team performed very well in each competition we had,”  Tracy said. “I  felt the most proud of the team because many came in with no experience and were trained in a little over a month. There were also many occasions where we were presented with unforeseen circumstances and each team member took these challenges head on.”

Associate Professor of Political Science, Paul Foote, serves as the coach and faculty advisor for the mock trial team. Practicing Attorney and Murray State alumus, Addam Holder, also assists in coaching the Mock Trial team.

“Everyone involved in Mock Trial is so great, from Dr. Foote starting all of this and guiding the team to our attorney coach Addam who has helped us obtain knowledge of what to do and say in our trials to the rest of the attorneys, witnesses and everyone else on the team,” Conner said.

The Mock Trial team has already gotten back to work after their competition hoping to improve their skills to advance their careers and increase their competitiveness ahead of future competitions.

“Mock trial is the best way to learn how to be a future attorney,” Thomason said. “I recommend it for you if you plan on going into law because I have learned so much that I will take with me for years to come.”