CHARLES PRITCHARD
Staff Writer
Fredonia is home to many student clubs and organizations. Some are lighthearted and meant for fun, but others requiring a lot of work and dedication.
Fredonia Mock Trial is one such group that requires technical knowledge, preparation and practice, which makes it a serious commitment for its members.
“The mock trial consists of students who join to participate in a nationwide competition,” David Kaplin, English professor and coach of the Mock Trial team, said. “Every year, more than 650 teams from colleges across the country get the same case materials, witness statements, case logs, statutes and physical exhibits and every team prepares both the plaintiff side and the defense side of the case.”
Kaplin’s job as coach is to help students understand the complex rules of evidence. Having practiced law full-time for eight years and part-time for five years, Kaplin is familiar with the ins and outs of the courtroom. The Mock Trial team had high hopes this year, considering what happened the year before.
“Last year, for the first time in Fredonia’s history, the Mock Trial team advanced to the opening rounds of the national championships. We were there with teams from Harvard, Yale, NYU, Cornell, Michigan — all the heavy hitters,” Kaplin said. “And there was SUNY Fredonia. The only SUNY school to advance to that opening round of national championships.”
To be among such names as Harvard and Yale requires a lot of work and dedication and the Mock Trial team had this in spades.
“The season was pretty good,” Dylan Forman, president of Fredonia Mock Trial said. “We have one case like we do every year and this year’s case was about a casino owner who bribed a head of the gambling commission to get a second casino. So for one side of the case we had to defend either the politician or the casino owner and on the other half we had to prove the bribe actually took place.”
Mock Trial participates in a number of tournaments against other mock trial teams across the country and presents their case to a panel of judges.
“Even though we weren’t as successful as last year, people put in the same amount of effort and got as much out of it,” Forman continued.
The trial itself is not a static thing and the lead up to it did have its ups and downs.
“With Regionals, we had some hurdles we needed to overcome,” Michael Vasquez, vice president of Mock Trial said. “But I think overall, we had a great time and we tried our best.”
Just like any real sport, Mock Trial has its offense and defense; or prosecution and defense in this case.
“Our prosecution case was a lot stronger than our defense case this year,” Forman said. “I’d say our prosecution case was flawless.”
Even with a strong offense and a lot of gumption, there are always barriers to overcome. And not unlike a football season, there are your good years, bad years and sometimes just plain ‘years’.
“We had some high hopes this year, but we had some personnel changes and we faced some powerful teams early on in the Regionals. So we didn’t get the record we needed to advance,” Kaplin said.
While the mock trial team didn’t go all the way, they not only had a fun time, but took home a number of awards, with Forman taking home the Outstanding Attorney Award and Honorable Mention Attorney Award and senior English major Holden Bernstein being awarded the Outstanding Witness Award, which only 12 are given out.
The Mock Trial team can be fun, it can be blast but it’s not something that can be done halfway.
“Every year, it’s amazing to see students dedicate so much time and energy. This takes more time than I think most activities on campus,” Kaplin said. “We dedicate four hours a week every week for practice. The students this year initiated a third practice on Friday afternoons, of all times. That’s another two hours. Then several weekends throughout the year dedicated to scrimmages and tournaments. Then all the homework and reading and understanding a case packet of over 200 pages. The students really put in their hearts and time into it.”