Their Day in Court

Mock trial team advances to national championships

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

Eleven-year-olds Sydney and Jesse were alone in the house when Sydney’s gun went off, delivering a fatal shot to its owner. Was it a tragic mistake—an accidental discharge during gunplay or the mistaken belief that the gun was not loaded? Or was it something more sinister? And who was to blame?

Those were the questions set before Dickinson’s mock trial team last week, when it entered the American Mock Trial Association's Regional Mock Trial Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pa. Students from large institutions, like New York University, battled head-to-head with students from small liberal-arts colleges during the two-day event, held Feb. 14-15 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, with team members taking on positions as attorneys, witnesses and experts for both the prosecution and the defense.

The pinnacle of the event arrived during the third round, when Dickinson Mock Trial Co-President Kirsten Dedrickson ’15 (philosophy and computer science) argued that this was a case of intentional shooting, and that the fictional Jesse was a psychopath obsessed with guns. Her expert witness strengthened the case by outlining and categorizing the boy’s history of psychopathic behavior.

“It was the most intense round we’d seen all year,” said Dedrickson who, like most of the six seniors on the winning team, has competed with mock trial since her first year at Dickinson.

And it was also the finest, added fellow Co-President Amy Fly ’15 (law & policy). “There was nothing but smiles after that round, even before we knew the results,” she said.

Dickinson emerged from the regionals not just victorious, but undefeated, and Dedrickson earned the Best Regional Attorney award, while Austin Barrington ’15 (international studies) and Fly were among three witnesses with perfect 20/20 scores. First-year Caroline Pappalardo was awarded Best Regional Witness.

The team will compete at the Opening Round Championship in Louisville, Ky. during spring break.

Learn more

• “Another Record-Breaking Season”
• "Legal Eagles"
• "Courtroom Drama"
• “The Company She Keeps” (Kirsten Dedrickson ’15)
• Latest News

Published February 23, 2015