A courtroom is one of the last places a Ball State University student would want to spend his or her Friday evening. But for the seven members of the Ball State chapter of the Mock Trial Association, spending Friday evening presenting their case to a panel of judges means a chance at advancing to a national competition later in the semester.
The Mock Trial members, led by president Kevin Kolbus, have been putting in several hours of practice during evenings and weekends in preparation for their forthcoming competition.
Freshman member Juli Digate said mock trial is a good place to start for people who might be interested in pursuing a career in law.
Most of the members are political science or legal studies majors, but Kolbus encourages all majors to become involved with the organization.
Each season, all Mock Trial Association chapters are given a new case and a list of ten witnesses. The team must then prepare witnesses, questions and opening and closing arguments for both sides of the case.
At competitions, the team participates in four rounds, two as the prosecution and two as the defense, Kolbus said. Teams are allowed to have three attorneys and three witnesses to act out the trial.
There are usually two judges that observe the trials and evaluate how well the team is prepared, Digate said. One judge scores the teams, and the other presides over the case. Kolbus said the key to winning a mock trial competition is not what one might think.
The team is traveling to Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio, today to compete against 25 other teams. Since it is a regional competition, the team's performance will determine if it will advance to the nationals, which will be held in March and April.
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