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Susan Roberts     765/423-7019

Roberts Helps Lead Indiana to Mock Trial Victory

Lafayette, Indiana -- May, 2003 -- Indiana placed third in the nation at the Indiana High School Mock Trial Competition held May 9-10, 2003 in New Orleans, LA.  The first place winner was the returning champion from Tennessee.  Indiana was one of three undefeated teams during the competition, and narrowly missed the opportunity to advance to the Championship round between the top two teams.  Forty-three state and territorial championship teams (and the host state’s runner-up), each consisting of eight students, gathered to engage in four trials each over two days. In the national high school mock trial competition, the students participating for a team in a trial are assigned roles: three are witnesses; three are attorneys. Each attorney conducts one direct examination and one cross examination. One attorney also presents the opening statement, and another presents the final argument. Each team presents each side of the case – plaintiff and defendant – at least once during the four rounds. The national case this year involved voter fraud at a student election where certain absentee ballots were thrown out because of hanging, dimpled or pregnant chads.  The students received the case on April 1st and had a little over a month to prepare in addition to juggling academics and other extra-curricular activities. 

Indiana was represented by John Adams High School of South Bend, Indiana, the champion of the Indiana State Mock Trial competition held in March, 2003.  The John Adams High School Mock Trial Program has won the Indiana High School Mock Trial competition three consecutive years.  The returning champions placed 7th last year in the National competition.  The team consisted of:  Emily Bell, Megan Marshall, Amanda Miller, Katie Newbold, Ben Parisi, Robert Saddawi-Konefka, Allyson Scherb, and Esther Warren.   The Indiana team was coached by the Honorable Robert Miller, Jr., Chief Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana, and  Magistrate Jane Woodward Miller.  Also accompanying and assisting the team were Judith Overmyer, Teacher and Sponsor of the program, ISBA members Ann Marie Waldron, partner at Indianapolis firm Tabbert Hahn Ernst and Weddle and Board member of the Indiana High School Mock Trial Association, and Susan Roberts, partner at Stuart and Branigin, Lafayette, and President of Indiana High School Mock Trial Association.

“The team’s accomplishment shows the strength of the Indiana program.  The victory is shared by every team that participates in the Indiana competition, as well as the Indiana attorneys who help coach or judge teams.  All have helped make the Indiana program what it is today,” said Roberts.  Walkdron added, “Indiana has become a household name among high school mock trial students.  Not only did our scores/results standout, but so many people from other states – students, coaches, state coordinators, observers, and judges, remarked that the Indiana team was ‘awesome’.”

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