Mock Trial team attends national championship for first time since 2009

The University of Richmond's Mock Trial team earned an Honorable Mention and an All-American Witness Award this past Sunday, April 17, at the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.

After coming up a few points short for the past two years in the Open Round Championship Series – the level before Nationals – Richmond’s mock trial team qualified this year for the first time since 2009. With three returning seniors on the attorney bench and some star witnesses, the team was more prepared this year than past years and had the leadership it needed to progress to the big leagues.

Forty-eight college teams from across the country competed in a tournament bracket from Friday to Sunday. Richmond went up against Carthage College, University of Virginia’s B Team, University of Cincinnati and University of Washington, and placed 14th in its division. The team ended the weekend with a 10-10 score.

“The Honorable Mention probably puts us in the top 25 teams in the country,” said Tim Patterson, head coach for Richmond’s mock trial program and two-time Richmond alumnus. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2010, law degree in 2015 and this was his sixth year as a mock trial coach. Patterson was a student on the mock trial team the last time Richmond went to Nationals seven years ago.

“It was cool to have that kind of full-circle moment,” Patterson said of returning to Nationals as a coach.

Seniors Abby Hegarty, JC Rowe and Madeline Smedley were all attorneys. Sophomores Jabari Lucas and Madison Lindsay and junior Gia Nyhuis played witnesses. Sophomore Dylan McCauley joined as a timekeeper and team assistant.

“Everyone on our team had stand-out moments,” Hegarty, the group’s vice president, said. “I gave the best closing of my life.”

Hegarty also raved about her teammates' performances. She said that Lindsay “destroyed” the other team’s attorney on cross-examination during her portrayal of a psychologist. Another teammate, Lucas, was one of the best witnesses at the tournament, Hegarty said, and was the recipient of the All-American Witness Award.

“I’m humbled by the award I received,” Lucas said. “I consider it really more of an homage to the program, the skills of the attorneys and the quality of the coaching that we have.”

Lucas’ shining moment in Hegarty’s mind was his portrayal of a defense witness who was supposed to be identifying the defendant as the murderer. 

“We had him play it like he was nuts,” she said, explaining the prosecution’s strategy to discredit the witness. “He was eating sunflower seeds on the stand, and he had a pocket bible and was quoting scripture. It was hilarious. The other team didn’t know what to do with it.”

Lucas’ character brought comedic relief into the fake murder trial. He described mock trial as showmanship – a combination of theater and law that is tricky to balance.

“There are some teams that are all theory, and there are some teams that are all theatrics,” Hegarty said. “We’re a nice middle road.”

Rowe, the club’s president, was also confident in the team’s ability to not only know relevant case law and the rules of evidence, but to make it look real and put on a good show.

“This year I did expect to qualify,” Rowe said about Nationals. “I felt more strongly this year that we were going to make it than I had in the past.”

Rowe attributed the club’s success this past year to experience. With both Rowe and Hegarty as veterans who'd started freshman year, the team’s year-long goal was to qualify for Nationals.

“To be at Nationals was a really cool experience because you’re one of the top 48 teams in the country,” Hegarty said. “Just being there is an accomplishment.”

The Honorable Mention also gets Richmond a lot of national notoriety, Patterson said.

“We’ll be one of the top power ranked schools at our Regional next year,” he said. “We’re not going to fly under the radar. It’s a really strong finish.”

Contact reporter Rebecca Fradkin at rebecca.fradkin@richmond.edu