Strong cross-examinations and convincing testimony qualified three Dartmouth mock trial teams for the American Mock Trial Association national championship this month.
After placing second out of 30 teams at the New England Mock Trial Tournament in February, Dartmouth's top team led by senior attorneys David Rhinesmith, Victoria Corder and Sean Miller will qualify for the country's most prestigious national competition to be held in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.
A second Dartmouth team that placed fourth at a different regional tournament held at Manchester Community College attended a national competition in St. Petersburg, Fl., earlier this month, and placed fifth.
Though three out of Dartmouth's four teams qualified for nationals, matching last year's unprecedented success, American Mock Trial Association rules stipulate that only two teams from each school are allowed to attend in order to prevent top schools from dominating the competition.
Even though only two of three teams can continue to nationals, Mock Trial president Rhinesmith was thrilled that all three qualified.
"Personally I was surprised, because I thought we set the bar pretty high last year," he said. "The fact that we qualified three teams again was outstanding."
Rhinesmith wants to continue the team's recent record-breaking antics, and his team aims to place in the top ten at the Des Moines tournament -- something no team from Dartmouth has ever done. Last year a Dartmouth team placed just outside of the top ten, making them even more determined to place this year.
"Based on our performance at regionals, I think we have a reasonable shot," Rhinesmith said.
Rhinesmith's team won seven of the eight trials at the regional tournament in Wooster, Mass., judged by practicing attorneys and judges. Holy Cross College was the only team to defeat Dartmouth, even though in Rhinesmith's opinion, Dartmouth outperformed them.
"We were robbed," Rhinesmith said.
But they were justly rewarded when neither of the Holy Cross teams at the tournament qualified for nationals.
Some team members were rewarded even further for their efforts with individual awards for their outstanding performances. Corder was one of the competitors to nab such an award for her success as an attorney.
"It's definitely an honor, especially because this year the three senior attorneys are all equally competitive and equally good," Corder said.
Carlos Mejia '08 and Jenny Fisher '08 both received individual honors, and Corder said this year's outstanding freshmen may have made the difference in the teams' successes.
The case this year debated by colleges across the country and assigned by the American Mock Trial association, concerned a golfer suing a mental institution. One of the institution's former patients injured the college-aged golfer's shoulder in a fight, ruining his career. The golfer consequently accused the institution of negligence for releasing the patient too early and held it responsible for the loss of his future potential earnings.
Rhinesmith said a lot of coincidences and intricacies forming a somewhat unrealistic fact pattern made the case interesting, but he personally preferred past years' cases.
"It's a civil case, which in my opinion makes it slightly less interesting or fun in comparison to years when it has been a criminal case," he said.
