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April 19, 2006 -- With wins over two-time defending
national champion UCLA and Harvard University, the University
of Virginia Mock
Trial team won the 22nd annual Collegiate Mock Trial National
Championship Tournament, held April 7-9 in Des Moines,
Iowa.
U.Va.’s victory at the national championship tournament
makes it the No. 1 team out of over 600 that competed for
the 2006 title. U.Va. won the Gettysburg Regional Tournament
in February, earning a bid to compete at this year’s
national championship. At nationals, U.Va. took first-place
honors in its division, beating out two-time defending
champion UCLA. In the championship round, U.Va. defeated
Harvard to become the national champion.
Tournaments consist of trials between prosecution (or plaintiff)
and defense teams. This year’s case, State of Midlands
v. Tyler Perry, involved the kidnapping of a 13-year-old
child for a $250,000 ransom. In competition, students put
on a trial from start to finish, delivering opening statements
and closing arguments, presenting witnesses, entering exhibits,
conducting direct and cross examinations, and arguing objections
using the federal rules of evidence.
Members of U.Va.’s team included fourth-year students
Samantha Bateman and Benjamin Sachs, both of Virginia Beach,
Va.; third-year students Mostafa Abdelkarim of Fairfax,
Va. and Daniel Young of Chesapeake, Va.; second-year students
Sean Hamidi of Los Angeles, Calif. and Jamar Walker of
Melfa, Va.; and first-year students Ryann Burke of Atlanta,
Ga. and Steven Kanjo of New York City, N.Y. All eight members
are students in the College of Arts & Sciences. Also
attending were the captains of U.Va.’s second team,
Ashton Alexander of Nashville, Tenn. and Kevin Richards
of North Salem, N.Y.
At nationals, Young took home an All-American Attorney
Award for his performance as a defense attorney, while
Abdelkarim took home an All-American Witness Award for
his emotional portrayal of the hotel concierge who found
the kidnapped child. These awards were given to the top
10 attorneys and witnesses in each division.
The national victory marked the conclusion of a watershed
year for the U.Va. Mock Trial program. In the 2005-2006
season, it won two invitational tournaments, placed in
the top 10 nine times at various competitions and earned
14 individual awards. As a program, U.Va. had a cumulative
record of 59-20-4, with an overall winning percentage of
75.3 percent.
After the team's success in the 2004-2005 season, when
the team tied for first place in its division at nationals
but lost the tie-breaker to compete in the championship
round, interest in the team among U.Va. undergraduates
sky-rocketed. For the fall 2005 try-outs, just under 50
students tried out to fill only seven available spots,
making Mock Trial one of the most competitive organizations
at the University.
Many U.Va. Mock Trial alumni are currently attending law
schools and practicing in law firms across the country.
However, in addition to traditional “law-oriented” majors,
such as politics, philosophy and foreign affairs, this
year’s team includes students interested in pre-med
as well as majors in English and American studies. Additionally,
the captain of U.Va.’s second Mock Trial team, who
played the role of both defense attorney and witness this
past season, is a second-year student in the School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.
U.Va.’s team is coached by first-year University
of Virginia School of Law student and former mock trial
competitor Ryan Faulconer. The team has also worked extensively
with Washington, D.C. attorney David Cross.
Collegiate Mock Trial is an interscholastic activity that
has recently exploded in popularity on college campuses
across the country. Coordinated by the American Mock Trial
Association since its founding in 1985, Collegiate Mock
Trial provides students with an opportunity to learn first-hand
about the work of trial attorneys, understand the judicial
system, develop critical thinking and enhance communication
skills. To qualify for the National Championship Tournament,
a team must place first or second at one of several regional
tournaments across the country. The 64 teams that earn
a bid to the national championship are then divided into
two divisions. After four rounds of competition, the top
teams from each division go head-to-head in a national
championship round.
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