This semester, the Hamilton Mock Trial team has pandemic-friendly competitions down to a science.
The team faced the first test of their COVID-19 game plan during George Washington University’s virtual Habeas Hippopotamus Invitational Tournament from October 16–18.
To maintain social distancing, all Hamilton competitors in the round participated from separate rooms in the Kirner-Johnson building. Attorneys and witnesses Zoomed from desktop computers instead of laptops for a stable Ethernet connection, more reliable than Wi-Fi. The team also projected the trial onto a big screen, so when competitors were not performing, they could watch their teammates in the viewing room.
Donning professional attire–at least from the waist up–the team was far from the typical courtrooms that they usually compete in.
With a virtual trial, comes new, unprecedented technological difficulties. For example, the rapport between a directing attorney and a witness is not as strong over Zoom due to issues such as a lack of eye contact and screen lag. Cross-examining a witness is not an easy task because lag can detract from the dramatic points asserted against the other team.
However, competing in a trial over Zoom has its virtues.
“I think the team has adapted really well to virtual mock trial tournaments. I believe I speak for the team when I say that in-person trials are a lot more fun. But, one positive aspect of virtual trials is that the Zoom format makes it easier to read the judge when we’re doing objections. It’s easier to gauge whether the judge agrees with our argument on Zoom,” added co-captain Peri Kessler ’22.
The timing for scripts and speeches has posed an issue for many of the competitors in the season thus far.
The American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) gives each side of the case, plaintiff and defense, 38 minutes to present their case-in-chief, excluding opening and closing statements. This is a notable change from previous years, in which teams had 25 minutes total for direct examinations and 25 minutes for cross-examinations. This year, teams have to decide how they want to divvy their 38 minutes up between cross and direct examination, for the times are cumulative.
With this tight time limit, mock trial teams need an ironclad system for combatting the new, technological challenges over Zoom.
Many schools that the Hamilton Mock Trial team faced had issues, understandably, with timely management of technology–from sharing the wrong screen to unmuted mishaps and lighting disasters.
In response, this semester, the Hamilton Mock Trial Team has a new, very important position for each round: a trial technician. It is the trial technician’s job to seamlessly share their screen with evidence to enter and make sure all technical aspects of the round run smoothly.
“It was a really important job. I felt like the producer of a TV show. I knew everybody was counting on me, so I had to be on top of my game,” commented trial tech and competitor Nicholas Garvey ’23.
While a Zoom tournament might seem pretty removed from the courtroom setting, the virtual tournament process mirrors real courtroom proceedings that are taking place on Zoom throughout the pandemic.
The team plans to compete in at least one other virtual invitational tournament and several scrimmages this semester before the competitive season begins in the spring.
