Criminal Justice Administration Division

• What is Mock Trials?

• Current Team Members & Photos

• Previous Teams & Accomplishments

• The American Mock Trial Tournament 2003

Campbell is one of 300+ universities that participate in the American Mock Trial Association's (AMTA) undergraduate competition.  Mock trials is a forum that allows students to facilitate the growth of their individual legal skills as trial advocates & litigators and as a person able to work with and support others in a team effort.

Each year students are presented with either a criminal or civil case that they must prepare to present before judges (practicing members of the bar) in a "mock" trial.  Each team consists of seven members:  3 attorneys, 3 witness, and 1 time keeper.  The team must prepare opening statements of the facts of the case, call witnesses for direct examination, cross-examine opposing witnesses, know the rules of evidence for making objections, know the court procedures for admitting evidence into record, and make closing arguments.

At Campbell, student who wish to participate in Mock Trials can enroll in GOVT/CRIM 458 and receive 1 credit hour for each semester of participation.  Generally, the Fall semester is spent in case preparation and then compete during the Spring semester.

Previous Teams & Accomplishments

• Team 453:  Emily Morales (captain), Jennifer Wilson (co-captain), Roy Suh, Gary Henderson, Daniel Parson, Amy Conerly, and Ivia Woodgett
  
• Team 452:  Tabitha Blackwell (captain), Debbie Jo Westbrook (co-captain), Bob Hoyer, Mandy Weaver, Jessica Deiter, Michelle Dills, and Amma-Ra Cooper

On November 1-3, 2001, Campbell participated in an Invitational Tournament at Eastern Kentucky University.  At the tournament, there were teams from Bellarmine, Campbell, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Michigan State, Rhodes, USC-Spartanburg, Washington University, and Western Kentucky.  Twenty-four teams in all.  Both Campbell teams did exceptionally well!!  Gary Henderson, of Team 453, won an outstanding witness award and Emily Morales, from the same team, was only one point shy of winning an outstanding attorney award.  This is exceptional considering this is the first year for either of these students to compete.  Additionally, Team 453 was only 2 points away from winning the coveted "Spirit of AMTA Award." 

Pictures of the 2002 Mockers

	Gary Henderson, Outstanding Witness Award

Stay Tuned for More News & More Pictures!!

Campbell sent two teams to compete in the 2001  SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL MOCK TRIAL TOURNAMENT at FURMAN UNIVERSITY on January 26th and 27th, 2001.  

• Campbell Trial Team 452 members:   Nikos Koutsoupias, Jonathan Riddle, Mellisa Dempsey, Bernard Desrosiers, Kasey Cook, Bianca Coles and Lauren Nelms.
   
• Campbell Trial Team 453 members:  Logan Roberts, Tabitha Blackwell, James Bailey, Eric Swalwell, Andrew Styles, Debbie Jo Westbrook, and Latasha Smith. 

A total of 18 teams from schools such as Duke University, Eastern Kentucky University, Furman University, The Citadel, Davidson College, The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Asheville, Rhodes university, the University of South Carolina Columbia and the University of South Carolina Spartanburg competed against Campbell's two trial teams during the weekend's competition.

Competition consisted of 4 rounds of trials lasting three hours each. The teams alternated between representing the plaintiff and defense sides of the case between rounds.  Awards were given at the end of the tournament.

At the completion of the Regional Tournament, Campbell University won a total of 5 awards. Jonathan Riddle of Campbell team 452 and Tabitha Blackwell of Campbell team 453 won Outstanding Attorney awards.  Kasey Cook of Campbell team 452, Eric Swalwell and Latash Smith of Campbell team 453 all won Outstanding Witness awards.  

Additionally, Campbell's Team 452 won a bid to the National Tournament in St. Paul Minnesota.  This was the second year in a row that Campbell competed at the national level competition.

National Tournament
The National American Mock Trials Tournament was held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, the weekend of March 16, 2001.

Although Campbell did not place in the top 10 at the National Tournament, several team members did win individual awards.  Winning individual awards and distinguished recognition for their achievements, were Jonathan Riddle, Mellisa Dempsey, and Kasey Cook.

Riddle, a junior majoring in pre-law and government, won an All American Attorney Award; Dempsey, who missed winning an All American Attorney award by one point, received an honorable mention; and Cook, who also missed a Best Witness award by one point, received an honorable mention for her performance as a witness.

Other students on the Campbell team were Bernard Desrosiers, Eric Swalwell, Logan Roberts, Latasha Smith, and Nikos Koutsoupias.  Attorney Charlene Edwards was Campbell University's Mock Trials legal coach and Dr. Bruce Gay, director of Campbell's Criminal Justice program, was the educational coach.

The fictional case argued this year by the tournament teams involved a wrongful death civil suit in which a guiding company that leads tours up Mount Everest was being sued by the spouse of a deceased mountain climber. The Campbell University team competed against teams from Yale, Notre Dame, Emory, Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, Carnegie-Mellon, Princeton, Syracuse, and Texas A&M, among others.

Pictures of the 2001 Mockers

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