Nashville, Tenn. – Ten Memphis-area judges, including Chief Justice Janice M. Holder, will volunteer at the 2010 American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament April 16-18. The competition, hosted by Rhodes College, will be held in courtrooms at the Shelby County Courthouse and the Criminal Justice Complex.
The competition will feature the nation’s top 48 college mock trial teams, each of which qualified through prior regional tournaments. More than 650 teams competed for spots in this year’s national competition.
Teams advancing to the championship round will be scored by a panel of celebrity judges including Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Janice Holder, Memphis Mayor AC Wharton, Federal District Chief Judge Jon McCalla, Federal District Judge Bernice Donald, and Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft.
The following judges will assist with the preliminary rounds as presiding judges or scoring judges:
* Judge John Fowlkes, Jr., Criminal Court
* Judge Earnestine Hunt Dorse, Municipal Court
* Judge Robert L. Childers, Circuit Court
* Judge Rhynette Hurd, Circuit Court
* Judge Lorrie K. Ridder, Circuit Court
* Judge Paula Skahan, Criminal Court
The college mock trial competition follows a traditional trial format that includes opening statements, witness and cross examinations and closing arguments. Teams of three attorneys and three witnesses argue a simulated case and are evaluated by a panel of judges based on a set of scoring criteria. This year’s case involves a fictitious criminal matter that alleges a co-conspiracy to murder one of the partners in a major movie production company.
For more information and for a full a schedule of the competition, please visit: orgs.rhodes.edu/mock/tournament.shtml.