Maryland High School Mock Trial Competition

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Maryland is one of two states that support mock trial competitions separate from the national competition, the other separate state being New York. It is run by the Citizenship Law-Related Education Program for the Schools of Maryland (CLREP), in cooperation with the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) and the Maryland Judicial Conference. A large number of schools participate in this competition; in the 2007-2008 season, there were 126 registered teams from the eight circuits[1]. Standard courtroom decorum is maintained throughout the trials, which take place on local, county, circuit, regional, state semifinal, and state final levels. The state final is tried in the Maryland Court of Appeals.

Contents

[edit] Preparation

The participants are all given casebooks, including all the information they need to try the case: trial procedures, rules and pieces of evidence, stipulated facts, affidavuts, and statutory and case law. From these, the teams assemble two smaller teams, assuming the role of either the prosecution (or plaintiff, in a civil case) or defense. Each team consists of three attorneys and three witnesses, who testify based on information given in their respective affidavuts. One of the attorneys must give an opening statement, another a closing statement. Some witnesses may be introduced as expert witnesses, subject to the voir dire of the opposing side. [2]

[edit] Procedure

The trial opens with a standard opening of the court, followed by the prosecution's (plaintiff's) and defense's five-minute opening remarks. The witnesses are then called, all the prosecution witnesses first, followed by the defense. Each witness, along with an attorney from their side, presents a direct examination, for which seven minutes is allotted. In this stage, only the witness is allowed to testify, though their attorney may ask questions, and opposing counsel may object, a ruling on which will be made by a presiding judge, usually a local attorney. The witness is then cross-examined for up to five minutes by an opposing attorney, while their own attorney objects when necessary. When this is finished, the attorney has the option of redirecting the witness, and if he or she does, opposing counsel may recross. Once all the witnesses have been called, the defense, then the prosecution, give their closing remarks, after which the judge (and scorers, in some postseason trials) goes into deliberation to deliver both a verdict for the defendant and a scoresheet, which determines which team won the trial itself. [3]

[edit] State Champions[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.clrep.org/default.asp?page_name=mtteams List of Registered Teams 2007-2008
  2. ^ http://www.clrep.org/pdf/printready2008.pdf Casebook 2007-2008
  3. ^ http://www.clrep.org/pdf/printready2008.pdf Casebook 2007-2008
  4. ^ http://www.clrep.org/default.asp?page_name=mtsc List of State Champions, 1983-2007