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Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian

“All parties have been sworn in, you may be seated,â€Â declared judges Saturday, marking the start of the mock trials at the Harvey Wallace Northern California AMTA Regional, hosted by Fresno State and named in honor of recently deceased CSUF criminology professor Harvey Wallace.

Over the weekend, classrooms were transformed into court rooms as 20 mock trial teams battled for a bid to nationals in April.

There are three mock trial teams at Fresno State this year. Two competed in this weekend̢۪s tournament, and a third is going to UCLA next weekend to compete in another regional competition. The young teams, which were founded two years ago by coach Gordon Park and the late Wallace, performed well in the competition.

“I was so proud of them,â€Â Park said. “It’s the best record we’ve ever had in any tournament so far.â€Â

Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian

Team 409 from Fresno State, which played prosecution to USC̢۪s defense, placed 8th. However, because of a rule that only allows two teams from each school to compete at the national competition, Team 409 will most likely be bumped up to 5th place to replace an extra team from another school, and will be allowed to compete at nationals in Tucson, Ariz.

The final ranking will be decided after UCLA and USC, two schools whose teams ranked ahead of Team 409, compete at UCLA next weekend. Team 408 from Fresno State will also be competing at UCLA. If the team places in the top six, Fresno State could send two teams to the national competition.

“Cinderella isn’t ready to go home from the dance just yet,â€Â Park said.

The other team that competed for Fresno State this weekend, Team 410, did not place, but did tie for the Spirit of AMTA award, which is a congeniality award voted on by fellow competitors. Student Jamie Kalebjian from Team 409 won an Outstanding Attorney award, ranking 11th out of 240 attorneys.

“This weekend [Kalebjian] discovered how to be an absolute holy terror on cross exams,â€Â Park said.

Park, who is an attorney at Fresno law firm McCormick Barstow, said that the program̢۪s ability to compete on a high level with well-established elite teams brought immediate credibility to Fresno State̢۪s mock trial team and is the reason why the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) asked if the university would host a regional competition this year.

Unfortunately, Fresno State̢۪s program founder Wallace died in his sleep on June 21, 2007, three days after accepting the challenge to host the event. He was 62, and a decorated Vietnam war veteran who was a city attorney in Fresno, as well as a professor at Fresno State.

“[Wallace was] a talented professor who loved his students,â€Â Park said. “AMTA allowed us to name this tournament after him, which is unheard of because it’s always been Northern California Regional. We’re the only named regional in the country and it’s such an honor. The kids have rallied together and feel like they are carrying on his legacy.â€Â

Returning students in particular have stepped up their game in light of the tragedy to bring honor to their professor̢۪s memory.

“I was sitting in Professor Wallace’s office three days before he passed away when we got the phone call inviting us to host regionals,â€Â said Niki McQuillian, the student president of mock trial.

“He was overjoyed to have this opportunity because it’s such an honor and we immediately started hashing out details about how we should organize the event and make it the best run regional competition ever.â€Â

Team member Jennifer Forsythe said she and her teammates were devastated when they heard the news.

“The day everyone found out, there was a scheduled mock trial meeting so we all showed up and that’s where we were told what happened,â€Â said Forsythe, who recently received her degree in psychology and is participating in the legal studies program. “It was absolutely devastating, especially to the six or seven of us who were close to him.â€Â

The teams have been preparing their case since August; it was the last case Wallace helped with. The fictional case is about a man named Bobby Campbell. Campbell is charged with assault in the second degree for attacking a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker with a hypodermic needle infected with HIV, after the CPS worker came to remove a child.

“I play the defendant’s girlfriend, who is also the child’s mother,â€Â Forsythe said. “She is an entertaining character because she is completely different from me.â€Â

Every team associated with AMTA in the nation was given this same case and the same amount of time to prepare, so the goal of each team is to out-prepare its competition.

“Basically the teams are judged on real trial standards,â€Â McQuillian said, “including their presentation, courtroom manner, appearance, level of confidence, how they argue the evidence, how they object and how they present opening and closing arguments.â€Â

Forsythe said that if the program wasn̢۪t so fun she wouldn̢۪t dedicate so much of her time to it.

“I can’t stress how much fun I’ve had and what a great learning experience it’s been,â€Â she said.

Aside from preparing the case, McQuillian and her teammates also spent time organizing the event as best they could to honor Wallace.

“Our personal feelings about it are, we’re not going to put this man’s name on something and then have it done wrong,â€Â McQuillian said. “We’ve received countless comments from other teams and coaches that said they’ve never been to a tournament that’s been run this smoothly.â€Â

Park said that the AMTA was so pleased with this past weekend̢۪s tournament that Fresno State has already been asked to host another regional competition next year.

“We’ve just kind of shot to the top of the pack as far as being noticed,â€Â he said.
“All parties have been sworn in, you may be seated,â€Â declared judges Saturday, marking the start of the mock trials at the Harvey Wallace Northern California AMTA Regional, hosted by Fresno State and named in honor of recently deceased CSUF criminology professor Harvey Wallace.

Over the weekend, classrooms were transformed into court rooms as 20 mock trial teams battled for a bid to nationals in April.

There are three mock trial teams at Fresno State this year. Two competed in this weekend̢۪s tournament, and a third is going to UCLA next weekend to compete in another regional competition. The young teams, which were founded two years ago by coach Gordon Park and the late Wallace, performed well in the competition.

“I was so proud of them,â€Â Park said. “It’s the best record we’ve ever had in any tournament so far.â€Â

Team 409 from Fresno State, which played prosecution to USC̢۪s defense, placed 8th. However, because of a rule that only allows two teams from each school to compete at the national competition, Team 409 will most likely be bumped up to 5th place to replace an extra team from another school, and will be allowed to compete at nationals in Tucson, Ariz.

The final ranking will be decided after UCLA and USC, two schools whose teams ranked ahead of Team 409, compete at UCLA next weekend. Team 408 from Fresno State will also be competing at UCLA. If the team places in the top six, Fresno State could send two teams to the national competition.

“Cinderella isn’t ready to go home from the dance just yet,â€Â Park said.

The other team that competed for Fresno State this weekend, Team 410, did not place, but did tie for the Spirit of AMTA award, which is a congeniality award voted on by fellow competitors. Student Jamie Kalebjian from Team 409 won an Outstanding Attorney award, ranking 11th out of 240 attorneys.

“This weekend [Kalebjian] discovered how to be an absolute holy terror on cross exams,â€Â Park said.

Park, who is an attorney at Fresno law firm McCormick Barstow, said that the program̢۪s ability to compete on a high level with well-established elite teams brought immediate credibility to Fresno State̢۪s mock trial team and is the reason why the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) asked if the university would host a regional competition this year.

Unfortunately, Fresno State̢۪s program founder Wallace died in his sleep on June 21, 2007, three days after accepting the challenge to host the event. He was 62, and a decorated Vietnam war veteran who was a city attorney in Fresno, as well as a professor at Fresno State.

“[Wallace was] a talented professor who loved his students,â€Â Park said. “AMTA allowed us to name this tournament after him, which is unheard of because it’s always been Northern California Regional. We’re the only named regional in the country and it’s such an honor. The kids have rallied together and feel like they are carrying on his legacy.â€Â

Returning students in particular have stepped up their game in light of the tragedy to bring honor to their professor̢۪s memory.

“I was sitting in Professor Wallace’s office three days before he passed away when we got the phone call inviting us to host regionals,â€Â said Niki McQuillian, the student president of mock trial.

“He was overjoyed to have this opportunity because it’s such an honor and we immediately started hashing out details about how we should organize the event and make it the best run regional competition ever.â€Â

Team member Jennifer Forsythe said she and her teammates were devastated when they heard the news.

“The day everyone found out, there was a scheduled mock trial meeting so we all showed up and that’s where we were told what happened,â€Â said Forsythe, who recently received her degree in psychology and is participating in the legal studies program. “It was absolutely devastating, especially to the six or seven of us who were close to him.â€Â

The teams have been preparing their case since August; it was the last case Wallace helped with. The fictional case is about a man named Bobby Campbell. Campbell is charged with assault in the second degree for attacking a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker with a hypodermic needle infected with HIV, after the CPS worker came to remove a child.

“I play the defendant’s girlfriend, who is also the child’s mother,â€Â Forsythe said. “She is an entertaining character because she is completely different from me.â€Â

Every team associated with AMTA in the nation was given this same case and the same amount of time to prepare, so the goal of each team is to out-prepare its competition.

“Basically the teams are judged on real trial standards,â€Â McQuillian said, “including their presentation, courtroom manner, appearance, level of confidence, how they argue the evidence, how they object and how they present opening and closing arguments.â€Â

Forsythe said that if the program wasn̢۪t so fun she wouldn̢۪t dedicate so much of her time to it.

“I can’t stress how much fun I’ve had and what a great learning experience it’s been,â€Â she said.

Aside from preparing the case, McQuillian and her teammates also spent time organizing the event as best they could to honor Wallace.

“Our personal feelings about it are, we’re not going to put this man’s name on something and then have it done wrong,â€Â McQuillian said. “We’ve received countless comments from other teams and coaches that said they’ve never been to a tournament that’s been run this smoothly.â€Â

Park said that the AMTA was so pleased with this past weekend̢۪s tournament that Fresno State has already been asked to host another regional competition next year.

“We’ve just kind of shot to the top of the pack as far as being noticed,â€Â he said.