The Mississippi Bar Association - 13 Competition Update

Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | 01:24 AM

The Mississippi Bar Association - 13 Competition Update

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Thursday, January 12
Q. In a real trial, the prosecution might not know that the defense is going to present an entrapment defense. In this case, doesn't the prosecution already know that the defense is claiming entrapment? Is it all right if the prosecution addresses entrapment in its opening statement?

A. Due to the constraints of the Mock Trial Competition, the Prosecution team will be allowed to address the entrapment defense during their case in chief.

Tuesday, December 12

Q. In stipulation #6 on pg 34, it states that Finley Patton was 18 at the time he/she was charged. However, in Patton's statement, he/she states his/her age at 17, and the statement is dated 12/15/2010. What is the correct age of Patton at the time of arrest if the arrest took place a few days after the alleged drug sale on 12/10/2010?

A. There is a typo in the case. Finley Patton was eighteen years old at the time of the incident.

Q. We would like to question one of the witnesses (witness one) about information given in another witness's (witness two) statement. However, there is no mention of this issue in the first witness's statement, only in the second witness's statement. Is this permissible?

A. The Mock Trial Committee will not offer any advice with respect to strategy or student perfomance. The Committee can only answer questions with respect to clarification of the case. As this question seeks advice on how a student should perform his job as an attorney, we will not answer.

Q. On all of the sworn statements, the incident report, drug analysis report, etc., the dates are 12/2010. This trial is to take place in January 2012. When students testify, are they supposed to STILL be students at CCHS, even though, as seniors, they should have graduated in May, 2011? Or, are they supposed to testify with clarifying phrases like "at the time, I was a senior at CCHS," and "after graduation, I had planned to. . . " ?

A. During the trial, the students involved have already graduated from high school.

Q. Also, the stipulations (#6) state that Finley was 18 at the time of his arrest. Finley says s/he is currently 17 in his/her sworn statement given four days AFTER his/her arrest. Also, the incident report states that "children were involved." The option of "present" was not selected, but "involved." Is this a typographical error, is the stipulation correct, or is the problem with both the defendant's statement AND the prosecution's evidence?

A. There is a typo in the case. Finley Patton was eighteen years old at the time of the incident. Stipulation 6 is correct. Further, there are no typographical errors in the incident report; it is presented as completed by the officer.

Q. I have a question about allowable court procedure within the scope of Mock Trial rules: Is it permissible to include in pre-trial motions a request by the prosecution for enhancement on sentencing if they have grounds for it based on evidence? (I realize that it wouldn't be ruled on, but I didn't know if that is even something they can do to show their understanding of that particular process in the pre-trial motions and of basic case law, particularly in regards to the classification of drug sales/distribution on school property as a felony. I couldn't find anything in the case file that said one way or the other.)

A. All pre-trial motions not specifically excluded by the competition rules are permitted.

From the Mock Trial Committee:

As competition updates are released, they will be posted on this page.

ALL questions regarding the CASE and the RULES should adhere to the following guidelines:

♦ Procedures: All case and rules questions must be submitted via email to the mock trial coordinator (rgarner@msbar.org). Only teacher or attorney coaches may submit questions on behalf of a team. The mock trial coordinator will only process written case and rules questions submitted by email and will not accept questions submitted by any other method, including phone, fax or in person.

♦ Times to Submit Questions: Teams may submit questions from Sept. 30, 2011, until 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. Questions may also be submitted from Feb. 6 through 9, 2012. This time period is post-Regional competition and pre-Statewide.

♦ Receiving Answers: Teams will check the website for a running list of answers to all case and rules questions submitted throughout the season.

♦ Final Answers: The final Q&A list will be posted on the website by Feb. 13, 2012, at 5:00 pm.

The fact that the Mock Trial Committee made a correction or addition to the case materials at any point during the season is not relevant during a trial round. Teams are to assume that the fault for any typographical error or any other correction, addition or clarification to the case materials indicated in the Q&A list posted online lies with the mock trial committee, not with a particular witness. The clean, corrected copy of the materials that will be posted by January 18, 2012, is to be considered the first and only version of these materials submitted by any party in this action when trying this case in a competition round.

If you have a question about the case or the rules, please send your question to Rene' Garner at rgarner@msbar.org. She will forward your question to the committee for a response.