The American Mock Trial Association Welcomes You AMTA Evaluator Orientation

THIS IS A CRIMINAL CASE. The State is pursuing a murder charge against the defendant. The trial has been bifurcated and deals only with guilt vs. non-guilt. Penalty is reserved for a separate proceeding.

The Merits of the Case Mock trial cases are designed to be fact balanced so that each side has roughly equal material with which to work. But this can present difficulties in a criminal case because of the State’s high burden. So it is important to focus on each sides’ understanding and negotiation of the facts as they are provided as opposed to additional facts that you believe the participants should have or how you believe a jury would vote based on the merits of the case.

A Witness Issue Unique to this Year’s Case If you have judged college mock trial before, you know that you may see different witnesses from round to round. In this year’s case, there are some rounds in which you may hear testimony from a person who has accepted a plea bargain to testify against the defendant. In other rounds, that person will not testify. For purposes of those rounds where that person does not testify, that person has pleaded not guilty and will be tried in a separate proceeding.

Your Role Your role is to evaluate the student competitors. Some students will be attorneys and some will be witnesses, but every student will be evaluated. Evaluating consists of two things: SCORING and CRITIQUING

Your Ballot Guides Your Evaluation You will be given a 5 page ballot that will allow you to critique every function you evaluate and to give a score for every function. The ballot is a carbon form so make sure not to lay pages on top of one another while writing.

Page 1 Page one begins with suggestions on what to look for while evaluating. We will come back to this later. At the bottom you will see a place to comment on each of the opening statements. Please provide only narrative critique, all scores are to be written on Page 5.

Page 2 Page 2 covers the prosecution’s case and is broken into 3 main sections because the prosecution will call 3 witnesses. Within each section there are 4 boxes that allow you to comment on the performance of 1) the directing attorney, 2) the crossing attorney, 3) the witness on direct and 4) the witness on cross. Again, scores are written on Page 5.

Page 3 Page 3 is set up like page 2 because it covers the defense’s case. Like the prosecution, the defense will call 3 witnesses.

Page 4 Page 4 covers closings. The prosecution will go first and then the defense. The prosecution will then be allowed a rebuttal but only if the closer has requested to reserve time before commencing the closing proper. There is also a catch-all area for writing overall comments about the presentations.

Page 5 – The Scoring Sheet All scores are written on this sheet. Note that every function must be scored and that a space is provided for every function. At the bottom are spaces for ranking the top 4 attorneys and top 4 witnesses in the trial.

Scoring Each attorney and witness is scored on a scale from is the best, 1 is the worst. Fractions and decimals are disregarded so use only whole numbers. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU SCORE AS YOU GO!!!!!!!!!!! Ranking of the top attorneys and witnesses at the bottom of Page 5 is a wholly subjective call for each judge to make.

IT IS VITAL THAT YOU SCORE AS YOU GO

What to Look for When Evaluating Attorneys should be evaluated on their knowledge of case facts, courtroom procedure, the rules of evidence, and courtroom decorum. Witnesses should be evaluated on how convincing their portrayals are and how well their testimony corresponds with their side’s case theory. Remember that Page 1 of the Ballot has detailed suggestions on what to look for in attorneys and witnesses.

What to Expect In the Round You will be evaluating a criminal jury trial. If you are on a 3 judge panel, 2 of you will evaluate (complete ballots) and one will act as the trial judge. If you are on a 2 judge panel, one of you will evaluate and act as the trial judge. If you are evaluating you should expect to be addressed by the teams as a juror.

If You Are the Presiding Judge You will rule on objections based on the Midlands Rules of Evidence which closely mimic the Federal Rules. The objection exchanges that arise from them are helpful in evaluating attorney knowledge. In addition to the rules of evidence, the students have been given rules of criminal procedure, statutory law, and case law to use. These are the only codes and law they may use. Do not apply precedents or rules not provided in the case materials. Witnesses are considered to have been already sworn and all documents are presumed signed. Formal certification of expert witnesses is not required. Expertise is established by laying the appropriate foundation. Keep the trial moving but allow for a brief break between cases in chief and before closings if time permits.

Motions The attorneys can make a MOTION TO STRIKE. The attorneys can also make a MOTION TO CONSTRUCTIVELY SEPARATE WITNESSES, though this rule does not apply to the designated State's representative or the defendant. No other motions can be made.

Invention of Fact Occasionally there will be a dispute as to whether a witness has unfairly invented or extrapolated a fact. No objection to such an invention is recognized; the remedy is impeachment. 2 basic rules govern invention of fact. On direct examination a witness is limited to the facts contained in or reasonably inferred from his or her affidavit. HOWEVER If on cross examination a witnesses is asked a question, the answer to which is not contained in the witness’s affidavit, the witness may answer with any answer so long as the answer does not contradict other facts in the witness’s affidavit and is responsive to the question asked.

Time Constraints To keep the trial moving there are time constraints on openings, closings, directs, and crosses. Teams provide their own timekeepers that keep track of their time.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION! The American Mock Trial Association