by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
When the eight students comprising the University of North Florida’s mock court trial team learned they had received a bid to attend the national competition at East Kentucky University, they carefully balanced excitement with a passion to win. Feelings of euphoria went by the wayside, however, as unexpected mishaps plagued the team, threatening their chances at a victory.
“The first thing that happened,” said Martin Edwards, who founded the mock court program at UNF eight years ago and still serves as coach, “was that our No. 1 attorney was experiencing family problems. Ultimately, they decided she shouldn’t go and there was no way we could replace her.”
To make matters worse, a second attorney for the team had to be taken to the hospital just before the team was to depart for the competition. She goes into surgery today.
“That was difficult to hear,” said Edwards. “But there was never any thought of not going. We thought about how hard it was going to be, but we realized the six remaining students would just have to do a larger share of the work. No one wanted to quit, it was just a matter of figuring out who was going to do what.”
In determining that, it was decided that two students who were originally assigned to play witnesses in the competition would step into the newly-vacated lawyer roles.
“Luckily our No. 1 attorney, who was in the hospital, stayed in close contact with the team the whole time,” said Edwards. “She had all of her notes handwritten and that was a big help to her replacement. For the most part, he had to wing it, though, and he did an outstanding job. The judges had no idea and I know she was thrilled for him.”
Students playing witnesses had to pull double duty, literally. According to Edwards, one student was forced to take on two roles — the mother of a slain child and a pregnant witness — who were to give conflicting testimonies on the stand.
“She did an incredible job,” said Edwards of the student. “She wound up taking home an Outstanding Witness Award.”
It was wasn’t known which role earned her the honors. Another student brought home an Outstanding Attorney Award.
Overall, the UNF team finished ninth in the competition; a ranking that Edwards deemed “pretty good, under the circumstances.”
“We beat two very strong teams,” said Edwards. “And we lost by only one point to two others. They have every reason to be proud of themselves. We had a great time and I know they were surprised by how well they did. If we had had a full team, we would have easily been in the top three.”
As for next year’s team, Edwards has high hopes.
“Our program is becoming very popular,” he said. “We started out with five kids eight years ago. Now we have three teams and a waiting list. I feel like a proud papa. These kids are learning so much and it’s a lot of fun, too.”