March 22, 2012
Earns Spot Among Final 48 Teams For
National Championship
The St. John's University Mock Trial Team has
earned its place as one of the final 48 teams out
of 656 from across the United States that will
compete for the 2012 Intercollegiate Mock Trial National
Championship on April 12 – 16 in Minneapolis, MN. The spot
among the final 48 was secured by a fourth-place finish at the
Opening Round of the national finals held in Washington, DC, this
past weekend, March 17 – 18. The team won three out of four trials
and compiled a 6-2 record defeating Boston College, UPenn and
Temple University. The only loss came against the University of
Virginia, which eventually took first place.
Only the top six teams from the Washington, DC, Opening Round
were invited to the Championship Finals. This trip will mark the
11th time in the team's 20-year history that it has made it to
Championship Finals. Overall, the Mock Trial Team has earned a bid
to the national level 18 times in 20 years.
The Red Storm first competed at the Regional level, as did all
of the other 655 colleges and universities from
around the country in the competition. At the Easton Regional, held
at Lafayette
College in Pennsylvania from February 24 – 26, the
team finished seventh out of 26 teams, defeating squads from Cornell, Fordham, UPenn and Swarthmore
College, earning a record of 5-3. The top eight teams
received a bid to move on to the nationals. In addition to the spot
in the top 48, team member Ashley Denton '14C was
selected as one of the top 10 witnesses.
"The students on the team were just outstanding. They worked
extremely well together as an effective and cohesive unit, showing
the results of many, many hours of practice and preparation," said
Head Coach Bernard Helldorfer '77CBA, '80L,
Professor and Director of Legal Studies in the College of Professional Studies. Professors
Oscar Holt '73C, '79L and Kareem
Vessup '01CPS, '04L are the other coaches. The St. John's
team consists of undergraduate students from across the
University.
St. John's now travels to Minneapolis, MN, on April 12 – 16 as
one of the final 48 teams to compete for the
National Championship. There will be two divisions of 24 teams and
the two division champions after four rounds of trials will play
for the national championship in a fifth and final round. All
trials are scheduled to be held in the Minnesota state
courthouse.
The competition simulates a real court case, with students
playing the roles of attorneys for both plaintiff and defense, as
well as witnesses. Points are awarded based on the students'
individual performances. The case for this year is a criminal
homicide trial in which a college-age defendant is accused of
driving a car with extreme recklessness and indifference to human
life while under the influence of alcohol, causing the death of a
21-year-old female passenger in a horrific crash.