Last weekend the campus was filled with aspiring lawyers and witnesses for Brandeis' second annual Mock Trial Invitational, which brought together 26 teams from several Universities. Every school brought two teams on average. Among the participants were representatives from Roger Williams University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Yale University, Dartmouth University, Boston University, Brown University, Suffolk University, University of New Hampshire, Southern Connecticut State University, and Brandeis.

The American Mock Trial Association, which presides over intercollegiate Mock Trial competition, releases a different case every year that college teams use to compete at different Invitationals hosted by different universities over the course of the year.

Each team consists of two sides: the defense and the prosecution, each of which comprises three lawyers and three witnesses. When teams compete, the defense side of one team will compete against the prosecution/plaintiff side of another team by giving opening and closing statements, cross-examining witnesses, and so on. Each trial is judged on the basis of evaluation by points, based on individual performance, and the team with the most points wins.

According to Danielle Ross '09, a member of Mock Trial, the case for this year is a sentencing case in which Don/Dawn Francis, a child protective services worker , attempted to remove a child from its parent's home, and was stabbed by Bobbi Campbell, the child's parent, with a needle infected with HIV. Campbell pled guilty to stabbing Francis, so the Mock Trial case is to determine Campbell's sentencing, said Ross.

"The plaintiff's side has to show evidence of aggravation and the defense...[has] to provide evidence showing that [Campbell] deserves mercy," Ross said. In the Mock Trial case, Ross said she plays the role of Dawn Francis, the plaintiff.

A defense strategy used by several Brandeis teams was to show that Campbell "fell through the cracks. He was failed by the system," said Ross.

A team from Boston University won first place, and a Harvard team won second place. One Brandeis team got an honorable mention and another won 10th place. Nathan Hakimi '11 received an outstanding witness award.

The invitational consisted of four rounds of trials, two on Friday and two on Saturday, which were held in classrooms in Rabb, as well as in Brown and Shwartz Hall.

Last year marked the first time Brandeis hosted a Mock Trial Invitational, according to Hannelore Sklar '10. She said Brandeis has a pretty strong and growing Mock Trial program. The success of last year's tournament attracted a lot of schools this year, Sklar said.

Danielle Gewurz '10, a member of the Brandeis squad, said she enjoyed competing at the invitational this past weekend. "It was a lot of fun," said Gewurz, who also said she enjoyed meeting people from other teams. "A lot of people had different approaches to the case, which was interesting," said Gewurz.

There are four competitive teams in Mock Trial and one practice team. According to Sklar, two Brandeis teams competed at the invitational this past weekend, and will compete at an invitational at Harvard this weekend.

According to Ross, her team did not compete at Brandeis this past weekend, but will compete at the Invitational at Harvard this weekend.

Sklar said this invitational also served to better prepare for future invitationals at Brandeis in the upcoming years. "We definitely learned a lot about what works . and what we need to do for next year," she said.