Speaker 1: Class action is a production of I Heart Radio and
Speaker 1: sound argument. If Ida's winds verify that one fifty mile
Speaker 1: per hour landfall today, it will tie for the strongest
Speaker 1: hurricane on record to strike the Louisiana coast and the
Speaker 1: strongest to strike the Bayou parishes since Betsy. We are
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on some of these power puls here
Speaker 1: a concern that potentially those could come down. And we've
Speaker 1: got category three gusts, flooding rains that are recurring with
Speaker 1: flood mornings in the city. Tornado possibilities as well. This
Speaker 1: is going all night long. This is not gonna stop
Speaker 1: until tomorrow morning. And the longer the winds blow like this,
Speaker 1: the more damage there is to the infrastructure. For most areas,
Speaker 1: you're looking at between ninety two and nine eight percent
Speaker 1: of residents without power. Flooding made some streets of passable.
Speaker 1: This is one of the many trees uprooted by Hurricane
Speaker 1: Ida's strong winds throughout the New Orleans area. The hurricanes
Speaker 1: devastating impact is obvious. I left New Orleans with three
Speaker 1: days of clothes, thinking I was coming right back, and
Speaker 1: now it's two weeks later and I don't have anything
Speaker 1: that is UM Professional to wear. My name is Adria
Speaker 1: Kimbro and I am the coach for the Dealer University
Speaker 1: mock trial team. Today is September the twentieth. Our campus
Speaker 1: is still closed. Our students have all evacuated to their
Speaker 1: respective homes or to some place that they decided to evacuate.
Speaker 1: The city UM is still very much in recovery. I
Speaker 1: just got my trash picked up on Saturday, the first
Speaker 1: time in probably three weeks. We had students who had
Speaker 1: family members and loved ones who lost folks to COVID
Speaker 1: and then to follow that with a hurricane almost a
Speaker 1: Category five this year, so sort of back to back.
Speaker 1: So the campus will reopen on Friday and in person
Speaker 1: classes will resume on Monday. But certainly what that means
Speaker 1: is it relates to our team, is that we are
Speaker 1: a bit behind. What is it? What doesn't kill you
Speaker 1: makes you stronger. I'm Katie Fang. This is episode five
Speaker 1: of Class Action. A ram in the Bush. It's a desert.
Speaker 1: It's a desert, one week after the campus of Dillard
Speaker 1: University in New Orleans was shut down because of the
Speaker 1: damage my Hurricane Ida. It it hurts, That's just it hurts.
Speaker 1: Students like DeAndre Bell are making the best of it.
Speaker 1: This is lawless chapel. This is where we hold all
Speaker 1: of our church services and things of that nature. If
Speaker 1: you look, you can see that the big main window
Speaker 1: at the point or the tip of the chapel was
Speaker 1: blown out. There was a big crossing there, blown out,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. They had to patch it
Speaker 1: up with wood. These are the gardens apartments. You can't
Speaker 1: see from here, but like some of the rules are
Speaker 1: slightly caved in because the tree branches and things like that.
Speaker 1: They have as bestos in the walls, and the hurricane
Speaker 1: shook up the walls enough to release that into the air,
Speaker 1: which is why we had to move into the hotel
Speaker 1: to begin with. All right, good morning everyone, Welcome back,
Speaker 1: Welcome back. I hope that you all have gotten something
Speaker 1: to eat. Go back if you feel so inclined, because
Speaker 1: we pay for it, so you might as well eat it.
Speaker 1: The point is the same, The principle is the same,
Speaker 1: while there is truth to it. Twice as good as what,
Speaker 1: twice as good as home. I mean, let's just be
Speaker 1: frank about it. So we're saying twice as good as
Speaker 1: the standard, which is white, right, that's I mean, that's
Speaker 1: really what it means. And so why is white the standard?
Speaker 1: Why should it be? Why should it be instead of
Speaker 1: measuring ourselves in comparison to others, we figure out what
Speaker 1: our standard is and work to meet it every time.
Speaker 1: If it's excellence, it's excellence period. You all know the
Speaker 1: history of the team. You know, we started the team
Speaker 1: in one year. The second year we made it to
Speaker 1: the opening round Championship, which was just like ridiculous. So
Speaker 1: once the team had achieved to hit that benchmark, then
Speaker 1: it was like, well, now we want to go to
Speaker 1: nationals because we've we've been to orcs, so let's nationals
Speaker 1: is the next thing. And I think that eard year
Speaker 1: and since it's always been nationals, nationals, nationals, and that
Speaker 1: makes sense, like that's an admirable goal. Sterling's point was
Speaker 1: that Nick Saban is not focused on winning. My name
Speaker 1: is Lashing, my graduating senior um. This would be my
Speaker 1: fourth and final year on this team. This is DeAndre Here,
Speaker 1: I am a junior. This is my third year at
Speaker 1: Dilan Montreal. This is a Maya Runswick. I'm a graduating
Speaker 1: senior as well, and it is my fourth and final
Speaker 1: year one value that I've learned is being able to
Speaker 1: lead from every position. I didn't start off as the
Speaker 1: president or vice president on this team. I started off
Speaker 1: as a middle attorney or an opening attorney. I've been
Speaker 1: a witness, I've been a timekeeper, I've been a closer
Speaker 1: and opener, and I've had to learn how to help
Speaker 1: lead my team even when I didn't have all of
Speaker 1: the accolades to show. For you, DeAndre here for me.
Speaker 1: One of the biggest takeaways I've gotten from mock trial
Speaker 1: is the ability to use my voice for something that's
Speaker 1: not for me, you know what I'm saying. Growing up
Speaker 1: as a church boy from Texas, there are a lot
Speaker 1: of flashy things that we do in the church that
Speaker 1: don't necessarily translate well into the courtroom. So learning how
Speaker 1: to adjust and modify different approaches has definitely been something
Speaker 1: that is helped me grow in the mock trial. Let's
Speaker 1: think about what we can do today for the task
Speaker 1: at hand. Again, I'm just mesmerized by this because we
Speaker 1: talked so much about the endgame, and we don't always
Speaker 1: spend as much time talking about how the doing the
Speaker 1: things that we need to do to get there. What's
Speaker 1: the most important lesson you take away from having coach
Speaker 1: Adria and having been on this team, this kim Bro
Speaker 1: has she has been very influential in my life. She's
Speaker 1: what the old people will say, she's a ram in
Speaker 1: the bush, like she's always there. She's very much behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. She's the person you know who's looking out
Speaker 1: for you when you think nobody's looking out for you.
Speaker 1: But I would say the most important lesson I got
Speaker 1: from Ms Kimbro was really like, never to doubt myself.
Speaker 1: So I'm thinking perhaps maybe let's do something a little
Speaker 1: different this year, like maybe we don't talk as much,
Speaker 1: and let's be clear the goal is the same, but
Speaker 1: instead taking that same energy and focusing it on what
Speaker 1: we're doing right now. What are we doing in this practice,
Speaker 1: this boot camp, what are we gonna be doing on
Speaker 1: Monday at practice. As far as I know, Dillard is
Speaker 1: the only HBCU other than Howard who has made it
Speaker 1: to an opening round championship UM. And so I'm hopeful
Speaker 1: that there will be more teams, more HBCUs that will
Speaker 1: consider mock trial teams because I think it's a great activity.
Speaker 1: More Over, it's rare for us to see teams that
Speaker 1: have African American students on the teams, even from other institutions.
Speaker 1: It's just not something that we see very often. And
Speaker 1: you know, we could espouse all the reasons why that
Speaker 1: might be, but certainly it makes for a learning experience
Speaker 1: in a different kind of way for our students because
Speaker 1: they're often in these spaces where they are competing with
Speaker 1: and competing against students who are from different backgrounds, both racially, ethnically, geographically,
Speaker 1: and otherwise. Do you think that you're preparing them in
Speaker 1: some way by managing expectations Because I'm a practicing attorney
Speaker 1: trial lawyer. You're a practicing attorney, and so you and
Speaker 1: I've been into the courtrooms we as in women and
Speaker 1: women of color are most certainly still the minority in
Speaker 1: the legal profession. So do you think you're kind of
Speaker 1: preparing them, like managing their expectations about what to expect
Speaker 1: because the percentage is woefully low for people of color
Speaker 1: in the liqual professional. Absolutely. I always remind them, I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is what it's gonna be, guys, this is it You.
Speaker 1: At least you have the community of being on the
Speaker 1: team with people who have similar experiences. You will be
Speaker 1: the only one. Every place that I have ever practiced,
Speaker 1: I have been the only one. Most of my practice
Speaker 1: has been. UM in federal court, there's I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no women period like any color. And if you find one,
Speaker 1: I mean to see another black woman. Even in places
Speaker 1: in the South where you have, you know, larger concentrations
Speaker 1: of black people. Um, you would think there may be
Speaker 1: some diversity showing up in in certain spaces, and it
Speaker 1: is not. And so I just remind them, like, this
Speaker 1: is what it's going to be. I think that's important.
Speaker 1: I mean, it kind of goes back to the point
Speaker 1: I made earlier about you know, believing that you number one,
Speaker 1: deserved to be at the table and number two that
Speaker 1: you can compete. And that to me is what being
Speaker 1: a part of being upon this team means. I do
Speaker 1: feel as if New Orleans raised me in some sense.
Speaker 1: You know, some people call this the city of Sin,
Speaker 1: people say it's Las Vegas with regardless, you know, there's
Speaker 1: so much here that New Orleans has to offer, and
Speaker 1: when you feel the city, there's a different kind of
Speaker 1: power and connection that you have here. UM. So this
Speaker 1: is the Gentilly area. You will find that many hbc
Speaker 1: s across the country are in quote unquote hoods Um
Speaker 1: Howard is a good example. Dial It is a good example.
Speaker 1: So there are sometimes when we're on campus, he maybe
Speaker 1: a gunshot. There are some students who don't feel as safe.
Speaker 1: But then you have students like me who are more
Speaker 1: than willing to, you know, be like, hey, I got you,
Speaker 1: welcome with me, come with many things like that. At
Speaker 1: the very beginning, I knew very little. I knew nothing
Speaker 1: about I mean, the Dealer montrial team is the first
Speaker 1: and only team I've ever coached. I did not do
Speaker 1: my trial as an undergrad, so I mean I came
Speaker 1: to this just with an idea, but not with a
Speaker 1: whole lot of experience. Thank God for Judge Reyes. He
Speaker 1: had done some coaching at the law school level, but
Speaker 1: had never done any coaching at the undergraduate level. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's unpack that. Let's start with unfair prejudice. In this
Speaker 1: particular case, we have a case of arson. And let's
Speaker 1: say there is a really graphic photograph or someone burned
Speaker 1: to a crisp down to their bones where there's no
Speaker 1: human flesh left to discern because it's all charred. That
Speaker 1: sounds like a really gruesome photograph and I'm the prosecutor.
Speaker 1: I want to present this to the jury to make
Speaker 1: them absolutely hate the defendant. And so that first year
Speaker 1: we went to competition, I was like, oh, we miss this, this, this, this,
Speaker 1: So the whole time I was taking notes like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm watching, I'm observing. So, Renee, what's your objection to
Speaker 1: this photographs? Objection you're on a more prejudicial and providence
Speaker 1: and why is that? Because the probity value of this
Speaker 1: picture it will inflame and mislead the jury. They Adria
Speaker 1: and Judge Kern Reese play a familiar role for the
Speaker 1: students their family. Adria is the devoted and sometimes demanding mom,
Speaker 1: sometimes the protective big sister. And Judge Reese, well, he's
Speaker 1: that wise old owl of an uncle who wears a
Speaker 1: sweater and comfortable shoes on his days off from Civil
Speaker 1: District Court in Orleans Parish. And it's appealed to prejudice
Speaker 1: versus reason, and Michelleton wish your response to them together,
Speaker 1: they don't get rattled and they hold their team to
Speaker 1: high standards. Just drawing upon experience as a trial litigator,
Speaker 1: you always have to be able to maintain your composure.
Speaker 1: There will be times when people will shock you. There
Speaker 1: will be times when people will anger you. There will
Speaker 1: be times when cases can get unbelievably sad and you
Speaker 1: run through the range of human emotion. But you always
Speaker 1: have to be a professional, and that's what I stressed
Speaker 1: with them, And you always have to be prepared to
Speaker 1: go forward. Something I tell lawyers and go it all
Speaker 1: the time. I don't tell you how to prove your case.
Speaker 1: I just tell you it. Put your case on. Now.
Speaker 1: If you think that the testimony of the carna it's
Speaker 1: sufficient to carry your burden of proof, which is roof
Speaker 1: beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal case, then you
Speaker 1: don't need the picture. But if you want to die,
Speaker 1: all the eyes and cross all the teas, and if
Speaker 1: the judge doesn't let it in, but at least I
Speaker 1: put on my case to try to establish that I
Speaker 1: have the testimony of the card and I have a
Speaker 1: picture of the person who died, and the jury had
Speaker 1: the benefit of that to come to their decision, and
Speaker 1: I will have done everything that I could do to
Speaker 1: prove my case. Dillard, like more than six hundred undergraduate
Speaker 1: mock trial teams across the country will be competing in
Speaker 1: the American Mock Trial Association's tournament. The team will practice
Speaker 1: and try the same exact case for the next eight months, competing, refining,
Speaker 1: racking up points that will hopefully lead to a birth
Speaker 1: at the national Championship in April. Amya, you mentioned that
Speaker 1: you're the captain of this team. Can you briefly tell
Speaker 1: me what is this mock case? What is this trial
Speaker 1: that you guys are going to be doing at regionals,
Speaker 1: and what role are you going to play? So this
Speaker 1: is an aggravated arson case. We have a defendant who
Speaker 1: had spent about a year and a half building up
Speaker 1: this bar that he got ownership of, and with COVID happening,
Speaker 1: with people leaving or just the people in the community
Speaker 1: not responding well to the changes that he was making,
Speaker 1: he started losing money and wasn't able to pay back
Speaker 1: a one million dollar loan that he took out from
Speaker 1: the bank to make those renovations to the bar. He
Speaker 1: had until you know, August first to pay back that
Speaker 1: loan or payback a portion of that loan, and he couldn't.
Speaker 1: But he knew that he had a fire insurance policy
Speaker 1: worth one point five million dollars that would cover the
Speaker 1: cost so the case is about whether or not he
Speaker 1: did this and what his motive would have been. I
Speaker 1: am the closing at Ernie who directs and crosses the
Speaker 1: experts on the prosecution side, and then on defense, I
Speaker 1: actually direct La Jane as both an expert and a
Speaker 1: character witness, and I crossed an expert on that side
Speaker 1: as well. So to be clear, everybody on the team
Speaker 1: has to be prepared to switch hats and work as
Speaker 1: a prosecutor or a defense attorneys. That right. Yes. The
Speaker 1: roots of what is now called Dillard University date back
Speaker 1: to the end of the Civil War. The school was
Speaker 1: founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church and the American Missionary
Speaker 1: Association in New Orleans. The school was known as Straight University,
Speaker 1: and in eighteen seventy five, towards the end of the
Speaker 1: reconstruction era, had its own law school. Walter Kimborough President
Speaker 1: Deala University of New Orleans. Part of the historic legacy
Speaker 1: of Dealer University, one of the precursor institutions Straight University.
Speaker 1: Two of the graduates were behind a plus versus Ferguson. Okay,
Speaker 1: so that's just a part of this institution that addressed
Speaker 1: those kinds of issues of racial justice. In eight Plusy
Speaker 1: versus Ferguson was brought before the United States Supreme Court.
Speaker 1: Homer Plusy was from New Orleans. He was arrested in
Speaker 1: an act of civil disobedience he refused to sit in
Speaker 1: a separate train car for black passengers. It was an
Speaker 1: action that could have easily gotten him lynched. Graduates from
Speaker 1: Straight University formed a citizens committee to fight the case,
Speaker 1: and they hired white attorneys who argued that this law
Speaker 1: and others like it, implied that black people were inherently
Speaker 1: inferior and were second class citizens. They lost that case
Speaker 1: by a vote of seven to one. The court's decision
Speaker 1: upheld the so called Separate but Equal doctrine, which cleared
Speaker 1: the path for racist politicians to enact vile and de
Speaker 1: meeting segregationist policy known as the gym Crow Laws throughout
Speaker 1: the South. Yet and bid these hardships the plus The
Speaker 1: decision inspired generations of African American attorneys to fight for
Speaker 1: racial and social justice. I'm the daughter of civil rights
Speaker 1: generation parents. I grew up in Mobile, Alabama. It is
Speaker 1: the home of the last slaveship that was illegally brought
Speaker 1: to this nation. It is also the home of the
Speaker 1: last reported clan lynching of Michael Donald in the eighties.
Speaker 1: There were things that were happening in the community that
Speaker 1: I grew up in and that just didn't feel right,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to find a way to be a
Speaker 1: part of that solution. I think when the legal profession
Speaker 1: and the judiciary starts to look more like the nation,
Speaker 1: we may see different outcomes. The separate but equal law
Speaker 1: was overturned in nineteen fifty four in the Brown versus
Speaker 1: Board of Education case, a case argued by Chief Counsel
Speaker 1: through Good Marshal. Shortly afternoon, Earl war On, the Chief
Speaker 1: Justice of the United States, began to read a unanimous
Speaker 1: opinion of the Supreme Court ruling in five cases in
Speaker 1: which five Negro children sought the right to go to
Speaker 1: the same schools as white children. The Cartes said separate
Speaker 1: educational facilities are inherently unequal. We do believe that this
Speaker 1: decision in itself will encourage the people to take further
Speaker 1: steps with our litigation in miniats. By that time, Dillard
Speaker 1: University no longer offered a law degree, but the pre
Speaker 1: law program and its relatively new mock trial team is
Speaker 1: a vital part of the university's mission, so that the
Speaker 1: history is I think very important, and I think there
Speaker 1: are things that I've tried to do to make sure
Speaker 1: that we can make their history living. So, for example,
Speaker 1: doing the pre law for a ram to me is
Speaker 1: a living way to remember what happened is straight. I
Speaker 1: can always and reference it right back to straight to say,
Speaker 1: we had a law school, we had these folks who
Speaker 1: were involved in place versus ferguson, So that becomes a
Speaker 1: natural linkage for us. So I look for those kind
Speaker 1: of ways of saying, how do we remember our history
Speaker 1: in a modern sense and move forward with it today.
Speaker 1: So if you didn't get rules of evidence, there's some
Speaker 1: on the back table in the mock trial room. They
Speaker 1: should be already whole punched. You can add it to
Speaker 1: your finder. We're gonna go through these and then um
Speaker 1: the lovely lodging they Shelton has some examples for us,
Speaker 1: I think on relevancy. Yes, yes, yes, has some examples.
Speaker 1: I would argue some of our students if they went
Speaker 1: other places. First of all, they wouldn't even have this opportunity.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't know it existed. They might not feel comfortable
Speaker 1: to be on the team. So they've gotten the raw skills.
Speaker 1: But then I think there's a level of confidence building
Speaker 1: that's being done because it's you know, to tell them
Speaker 1: that you can compete on this stage and any other
Speaker 1: questions about Canary travel weekend. Okay, how some time to
Speaker 1: do I have here? I use that sup but like yes, yes, well,
Speaker 1: I mean we can talk more about it, but I
Speaker 1: think that's prefer Yeah, there maybe some variation that could work,
Speaker 1: but the suit is beautifore. We'll make sure that you're
Speaker 1: appropriately attire so you feel comfortable because we're sevent pelgra
Speaker 1: and eligible students, So we have students who literally they
Speaker 1: don't have a suit to compete in it, and Andrean
Speaker 1: has given students her suits so they would have something
Speaker 1: appropriate to compete in. Once we bring out of the groups,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go get the my trial closet, so I
Speaker 1: don't bring that in here for folks to take a
Speaker 1: look at, Renee. Did you touch real quick on? Colors
Speaker 1: of suit? Very acceptable? And colors are like undershirt or
Speaker 1: like you know, lass and stuff. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: think dark color is the best. You know, black blue, gray,
Speaker 1: I always say outside of it, So I mean it's
Speaker 1: all of those things that would have been barriers other
Speaker 1: places that they like, I can't be on this team,
Speaker 1: I don't have the ability to go. Or do we
Speaker 1: take care of all those barriers so that they can
Speaker 1: really focus on developing the craft. And I think that's
Speaker 1: that becomes the value added for them to be at
Speaker 1: a place like building. So I look at several lawyers
Speaker 1: throughout history. Of course, just the third good Marshal. He
Speaker 1: was an outful man, very powerful man in terms of politics,
Speaker 1: even in the church. So he is of course one
Speaker 1: of the main lawyers I look up to, especially because
Speaker 1: of his profound speech, especially when it came to giving arguments,
Speaker 1: very profound a speaking, especially in court. Then of course
Speaker 1: you have Johnny Cochrane. I do look up to him.
Speaker 1: He is the quintessential lawyer in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: defense and suave while doing you'll learn ms kimbro It
Speaker 1: will the sport of Maxstrow doesn't really allow for that
Speaker 1: kind of comfort from black people unfortunately. But Johnny Carker
Speaker 1: was the type person he go up say what he
Speaker 1: had to say, sit back down on and people be
Speaker 1: like WHOA, Like, oh my gosh, exactly, Hello, could you
Speaker 1: transfer me to the office of Senator Maria Cantwell, thank you. Hello.
Speaker 1: My name is Walter Dixon the fourth. Can you transfer
Speaker 1: me to Senator Corey Pooker. I'm calling today to act
Speaker 1: that you support h R thirty two nine four s
Speaker 1: Ignite HBCU Excellence Act. As an HPCU student, this bill
Speaker 1: will enhance the experience of me and my classmates on campus. Additionally,
Speaker 1: the Ignite HBCU Excellence Act will be a critical step
Speaker 1: to bringing HBCU buildings and research facilities up to date
Speaker 1: and provide the dynamic talented And how are y'all doing?
Speaker 1: Very good? How are you? How are the calls going good?
Speaker 1: I've been able to really get to speak to any
Speaker 1: senators directly, but we have so today we're having a
Speaker 1: joint UM text and phone banking event UM where the
Speaker 1: senors are going to be contacting senators and representatives in
Speaker 1: support of the HBCU Ignite at UM, which is going
Speaker 1: to help provide key infrastructure repair and needs for hbc
Speaker 1: USE nation wide. Your face, y'all want to do that?
Speaker 1: Like you don't have to do it today, but maybe
Speaker 1: like I can create a zoom. Hey, I'm Caitlin Douglas.
Speaker 1: I am a transfer student. Um. I am twenty seven
Speaker 1: years old. I am technically a sophomore, but a junior.
Speaker 1: This is my first semestery Dealard. I joined the martial
Speaker 1: team because I'm a strategic thinker. I'm a logical person,
Speaker 1: and I said, what would help me socialize? Help me
Speaker 1: learn the environment of Dealer. So I do a lot
Speaker 1: of student engagement. Dealer students are brilliant. They're very intelligent,
Speaker 1: very smart, very mature. They keep their ear to the
Speaker 1: ground of what's going on at the other campuses. To
Speaker 1: y'all know Howard's protesting. We know Tuskegeees protesting too. I
Speaker 1: don't know if y'all need Let's figure out these HBCUs
Speaker 1: that are really vocal about the conditions at their schools
Speaker 1: and see if we can connect with them and amplify
Speaker 1: it and do like a like a video. I am
Speaker 1: heavily involved in activism back home in Streeport, Louisiana. After
Speaker 1: my first experience with undergraduate studies, I took about a
Speaker 1: four year hiatus. I was smart as a whip, but
Speaker 1: because I was depressed and I didn't have that support,
Speaker 1: and then I had hardships. I had two family members
Speaker 1: that a childhood friend died. One was killed. My cousin
Speaker 1: was shot two weeks ago. He now will never have
Speaker 1: the two for his thomb and they had to remove
Speaker 1: his appendix. He's a truck driver. My cousin. That same
Speaker 1: cousin has been beaten by the police just because they
Speaker 1: got the wrong guy. My sister's boyfriend was murdered in
Speaker 1: front of her. I had to go to the scene
Speaker 1: and see that. I look at it is, I'm running
Speaker 1: towards this direction and then just obstacles are like pushing
Speaker 1: me back to street for it. Talk about how we
Speaker 1: can get more in their face, y'all want to do that.
Speaker 1: I'm a troublemaker to a lot of people, especially because
Speaker 1: before I worked with Power Coalition back home, I'm from
Speaker 1: street Port, Louisiana. UM, I was very heavily involved in protesting,
Speaker 1: marching and grassroots activism, and so I'm being the pretty
Speaker 1: aggressive most of the times because I just I stand
Speaker 1: in on what I believe in. Yeah, it's good trouble.
Speaker 1: I made good trouble. So I just so where are
Speaker 1: we now? So this is the hotel parking lot. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: dealers students were working with it, working what we have,
Speaker 1: but we have to walk just a little bit to
Speaker 1: get to the actual hotel. I hope you all don't mind.
Speaker 1: Downtown is a walk, and I will say I like
Speaker 1: to walk, so I'm not really too bothered by it
Speaker 1: because you know, it's difficult we walk down street. Now,
Speaker 1: what you don't see while this daytime is there are
Speaker 1: homeless people that do sleep alongside this, so you know
Speaker 1: it's dangerous because it can't get dark really fast. But
Speaker 1: with that in mind, I feel like a lot of
Speaker 1: students have begun to use something of a buddy system,
Speaker 1: you know, walking their parents, driving their parents, things of
Speaker 1: that nature, just to ensure that people are safe. This
Speaker 1: right here is my room. It's pretty clean. A problem
Speaker 1: with that, but this is where I lay my head
Speaker 1: at night. Yeah, it's literally just a standard hotel room.
Speaker 1: No amenities necessarily for students or anything like that. Just
Speaker 1: simple living quarters. Your mother won't sit on the bed,
Speaker 1: but you're simple living quarters. Usual things. But I try
Speaker 1: to make it as close to home as possible. So
Speaker 1: I got some season it right here. Um, A couple
Speaker 1: of sauce packets and things in case I get nuggets,
Speaker 1: so you know, whatever the case may be. UM, A
Speaker 1: couple of cups, so whenever I go out to take
Speaker 1: a little souvenir cup, putting it right here. Students that
Speaker 1: do it were allowed to bring some of their items
Speaker 1: from the norm to the hotel. So I brought my microwave. Um,
Speaker 1: I brought a second refrigerator because the one here is
Speaker 1: absolutely tiny. It's just some left food from last night. Obviously,
Speaker 1: drawers right here. I don't necessarily use them all too often,
Speaker 1: because you know, I don't want to just have stuff
Speaker 1: sitting here. But I do have like my belts and
Speaker 1: my ties for whenever mock trial prime example, it's my
Speaker 1: little tie box, so I have a bunch of different
Speaker 1: colored ties and things of that nature. I do have
Speaker 1: some snacks right here, so I can explain these are
Speaker 1: not all mine. These are also some of my friends.
Speaker 1: You know. Again there are times where I have to
Speaker 1: link up with them outside of school. So this is
Speaker 1: our snack drawer in case we need to get a
Speaker 1: bite to eat or something before we leave, you know,
Speaker 1: something like that. Disregard to our promise, those are not
Speaker 1: all mine. This is like my quote unquote library, if
Speaker 1: you will. I love to read titles. Absolutely so we
Speaker 1: have black Power, which is a book by Qualmy Terray,
Speaker 1: um Stocally, car Michael, and Charles V. Hamilton's part of
Speaker 1: my politics is helping black people, just like everybody else
Speaker 1: is getting helped, and so they have that kind of
Speaker 1: background would be very essentral moving forward. Barack Obama, Yes,
Speaker 1: I got this book for my birthday actually, so as
Speaker 1: you know, I started telling my family wants to run
Speaker 1: for president. Man Barack Obama has been a big influence
Speaker 1: for me terms of doing that. The man did it all.
Speaker 1: My dad once said, and I disagree with this, but
Speaker 1: he was like, if you know Barack Obama was perfect
Speaker 1: and everybody had a problem with them, then you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to work even harder because you're not as perfect.
Speaker 1: And he's right, absolutely, but like Barack Obama wasn't perfect either,
Speaker 1: and the Promise Land is a prime example of that.
Speaker 1: And now look at them, you know, for in President
Speaker 1: United States, he was a lawyer, he was doing all
Speaker 1: these big things. Naturally, it's some shoes that you know,
Speaker 1: I'd like to fill into. And departure time is set
Speaker 1: for three and either departure would be in front of
Speaker 1: the books. I guess it's Halloween weekends and you can
Speaker 1: feel the excitement in the air. The team's first competition
Speaker 1: is coming up at the University of Mississippi Ole MISS.
Speaker 1: This is their first in person tournament and more than
Speaker 1: a year, and for a lot of the students it's
Speaker 1: their first time ever competing without Zoom. It's a big deal.
Speaker 1: It takes about five hours worth sold to get to
Speaker 1: Oxford a week where all miss located. There will be
Speaker 1: a midpoint stock for dinner. Based upon our calculations, Jackson,
Speaker 1: Mississippi appears to be like a bad way point, so
Speaker 1: we'll be scouting out places to eat in Jackson, but
Speaker 1: probably Adrea is sending two teams to Mississippi. Team A
Speaker 1: features DeAndre and Caitlin, who will play an expert witness.
Speaker 1: Team B is led by Amaya and Lagene. Both teams
Speaker 1: will be coached by Judge Reese and Alicia Fryson. The
Speaker 1: biggest thing is jelling and becoming incredibly comfortable in a courtroom.
Speaker 1: It's supposed to be a space that's supposed to beat
Speaker 1: professionalism into you and make you feel like you don't belong,
Speaker 1: especially for black people and people of color. It's a
Speaker 1: space institutionally rooted in disenfranchising people of color and I
Speaker 1: really intentfully wanted to be a part of this team
Speaker 1: to help train future black litigators to embrace that space,
Speaker 1: like you belong here and we're gonna make it work.
Speaker 1: It rewrites history, It takes back all that strength from
Speaker 1: our ancestors. The Diller team is the first to arrive
Speaker 1: and they take their seats right down in front, something
Speaker 1: unthinkable a generation ago. James H. Meredith is formally enrolled
Speaker 1: at the University of Mississippi, ending one chapter in the
Speaker 1: federal government's efforts to desegregate the university. The town of
Speaker 1: Oxford is an armed can following riots that accompanied the
Speaker 1: registration of the first Negro in the universities one year history.
Speaker 1: Much of this film record was destroyed when our cameraman,
Speaker 1: Gordon Jordry, was attacked, but he didn't salvage pictures of
Speaker 1: Governor Ross Barnett at the sea. The governor thought the
Speaker 1: court order long and middle fifty years ago, well, maybe
Speaker 1: go back to about three. We wouldn't have been here
Speaker 1: at all. I mean, that's that's a given. And actually
Speaker 1: I was a child. I caught the tail in the
Speaker 1: segregation and some of it's after math, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: that pretty. It was humiliating, the humanizing, embarrassing, mortifying, and
Speaker 1: every other superlative you can come up with. UM. So,
Speaker 1: first off, I just want to say give a big
Speaker 1: thank you for everyone who decided to come to our
Speaker 1: tournament this year. We're really excited to have y'all here
Speaker 1: and thank you for coming to the second annual Chucky
Speaker 1: Mullins Uh Spectacular Invitational. First, a few things, Uh, the
Speaker 1: University of Mississippi does have a mask protocol. Here. We
Speaker 1: have six rooms. With that being said, we're going to
Speaker 1: start with the challenge order. So Rhodes A, who would
Speaker 1: you like to challenge? We would like to talk okay?
Speaker 1: And you see Knox, which side would you like to be? Okay?
Speaker 1: And that leads us to delay day. Who would you
Speaker 1: like to challenge? All right? Um? And which side of
Speaker 1: the case would you like to be? All right? And
Speaker 1: then you maybe okay? And which side of the case
Speaker 1: would you want? Is our first time being back and
Speaker 1: I just really missing people in real life, so we
Speaker 1: just kind of wanted to introduce ourselves, you know, just
Speaker 1: to get this is so this last time ago? So
Speaker 1: I don't know, ohiaya you got to Dylan Aversy, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's your name, Mackenzie Lily lilying it here. There have
Speaker 1: been times when we went to competitions and as an
Speaker 1: all black team when there are other black people within,
Speaker 1: like all white teams, being all black team is gonna
Speaker 1: stand down and those people are gonna gravitate to you. Naturally.
Speaker 1: People will be like, you know, I've been trying to
Speaker 1: be an attorney for the past, like um two competitions.
Speaker 1: I've been trying out, but you know, they've been kind
Speaker 1: of just sticking me in this witness role. Or I'll
Speaker 1: try to be an expert witness and they kind of
Speaker 1: just want me to, you know, play the cook and
Speaker 1: make it about like Southern style cooking or like soul
Speaker 1: food cooking. You have people come up to us saying
Speaker 1: like I'm being placed in this box. It's not what
Speaker 1: we're noticing is, but what we're being told. If you
Speaker 1: would buy your his close your eyes, praying your culture
Speaker 1: as I do, and my Father God, we come to
Speaker 1: you right now saying thank you, Father, thank you for
Speaker 1: giving us this season, thank you for delivering us from
Speaker 1: all sorts of hurt, harm, and dang Your Father, God,
Speaker 1: we thank you for bringing us to this courthouse. We
Speaker 1: thank you for this competition. We thank you for the
Speaker 1: growth that we've had, the journey that we've been on.
Speaker 1: We thank you Father God. But we're here now. Amen, Amen.
Speaker 1: Glory kill kill kill blood makes the grass grow. Kill
Speaker 1: kill kill blood makes grass Grassoula. With teams from all
Speaker 1: over the South competing, the ole Miss courtrooms are positively
Speaker 1: buzzing for Dillard. The action bounces from one courtroom to
Speaker 1: the next. Team A is squaring off against ole Miss.
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, So you have limited experience in fraud
Speaker 1: and that's because you failed the Certified Fraud Examiner accreditation.
Speaker 1: Isn't that correct? Yes, but that credential wasn't necessary now,
Speaker 1: just to clarify, to be a forensic financial investigator, you
Speaker 1: have to have expert level of knowledge and fraud. Isn't
Speaker 1: that right? Yes? But I also I did get the
Speaker 1: Certified Financial Forensics and I did that completing the exam
Speaker 1: and doing our five thousand hours in the field. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, Thank you for that, But my question
Speaker 1: was very specific. You failed the Certified Fraud Examiner test,
Speaker 1: but you need expert level fraud knowledge to testify about fraud.
Speaker 1: Isn't that correct? This place I mentioned earlier that credential
Speaker 1: wasn't necessary. Thank you. I have nothing for them. You're
Speaker 1: being paid by the defense to be here today. Yes,
Speaker 1: but that's the endered in my field, and in her
Speaker 1: debut as a witness, Caitlyn Douglas is acting out the
Speaker 1: role of the fire inspector, and your job was to
Speaker 1: review Dr Webber's report. It was to review his investigation.
Speaker 1: Is you also visited the scene, didn't you? But this
Speaker 1: was three months after the fire had occurred, correct, That's correct,
Speaker 1: And it actually made the scene a little better to
Speaker 1: view because I was able to look at everything that
Speaker 1: had transpired over a course of time. But within that
Speaker 1: three months, alterations could have been down the hall. Dillard's
Speaker 1: upper class members, La Jane and Amaya are already in
Speaker 1: fighting form. May it please the court opposing counsel members
Speaker 1: of the jury. These photos that I have in my hands,
Speaker 1: and that were presented before you earlier in this trial,
Speaker 1: show you exactly how beloved firefighter Jalen Williams died on
Speaker 1: August one, two thousand twenty. The damages in these photos
Speaker 1: show how the fire was started in the kitchen by
Speaker 1: an accellert found in paint thinner. These damages show every
Speaker 1: horrific dec I think it's important that there's a place
Speaker 1: for lawyers that, you know, work with empathy, that sympathize
Speaker 1: with their clients, that understand that there's more behind the story.
Speaker 1: And I think whenever you get in that courtroom, it's
Speaker 1: important that the person that's sitting at the defendant's table
Speaker 1: that their story is portrayed in a way that that
Speaker 1: makes the jury or the judge empathize or placed themselves
Speaker 1: in their shoes. But what these photos can't show you
Speaker 1: is the real damage that happened that night. You see,
Speaker 1: when you go to breckon Ridge County Fire Department, you'll
Speaker 1: find Jalen Williams locker empty. When you go to his home,
Speaker 1: you'll see that his seat at the table is gone.
Speaker 1: And when you talk to his parents, that's all you
Speaker 1: how they'll never see his smiling face again. It was
Speaker 1: easy for the defendant to forget that when she let
Speaker 1: the match at Chuggy's, someone else's life could go up
Speaker 1: in flames with it. It was easy for her to
Speaker 1: forget because the only thing she was we're out trial today.
Speaker 1: There was a story painted to you by the prosecution,
Speaker 1: and I just want to go over that store. They
Speaker 1: wanted to tell me the Dacode Sutcliffe walked around their
Speaker 1: business and looked at everything They poured into it, pouring
Speaker 1: into the lights for the business, having a new electrical
Speaker 1: box installed, redoing the floor, revamping the bar, even opening
Speaker 1: a patio area in a downstairs seating area. Decided to
Speaker 1: open a can of paint dinner and spread it all
Speaker 1: a way. And then after spreading that paint that or around.
Speaker 1: They want you to believe that as she looked upon
Speaker 1: this place, she decided to take a match and lighted.
Speaker 1: Not only do they want you to believe that she
Speaker 1: is the person who could have done this and that
Speaker 1: she wanted her place to burn down, they want you
Speaker 1: to believe that she would go to put it out.
Speaker 1: She wanted this place burned down, but instead she went
Speaker 1: to the firehouse to stop the fire. Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1: That is a story. There are three things that you
Speaker 1: heard today from the prosecution. They talked about debt, They
Speaker 1: talked about distress, and they talked about debt more than
Speaker 1: the three elements they had to prove. But there's one
Speaker 1: thing they left out, and that's doubt. Now let's talk
Speaker 1: about that doubt that we see. It's in the back
Speaker 1: of my head like this is the last, like this
Speaker 1: is your last, like the first time you're getting in
Speaker 1: the gate, for your last time of being on this team.
Speaker 1: And of course that's always gonna like that's looming over
Speaker 1: this whole entire competition, and you want to do your best,
Speaker 1: of course, but I also want to be in the
Speaker 1: moment and enjoy this competition. I don't want to be
Speaker 1: so caught up in the competing aspect, like the competitive
Speaker 1: I want to also have fun, because my will should
Speaker 1: be fun. It's so fun now when you go into
Speaker 1: that jury room and you deliberate over the evidence that
Speaker 1: you have saw today, and you see that doubt, You
Speaker 1: see the very thing the prosecution has tried to pull
Speaker 1: the roll over your eyes forlor and we asked that
Speaker 1: you delivered the only just verdict, not just for Jamie
Speaker 1: and Williams, but to CoA subclick, that you find a
Speaker 1: coda subclick, not guilty, because the prosecution didn't do the
Speaker 1: job for Jamie. Willis Day didn't wait smoke to clean. Hey,
Speaker 1: that's right. The judges in both rooms give high praise
Speaker 1: to the Dealer team. We had some good attorney exchanges.
Speaker 1: Uh Anthony and uh watching what's your nay? Sorry, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you get it occasionally an you all had
Speaker 1: a really good get back and forth there on the witnesses.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed the witnesses. Make sure you keep eye contact
Speaker 1: with the judges. Make sure you slow down. Some of
Speaker 1: you speak really quickly. For us southern born lived people,
Speaker 1: sometimes we don't talk that fast, so just slow it
Speaker 1: down a little bit. But I thought y'all did a
Speaker 1: really good job. I think you're all doing quite well.
Speaker 1: Opening for the prosecution was good. It would occurred to
Speaker 1: me at that point in time that I kind of
Speaker 1: wish we had jurors and and and there was a
Speaker 1: moment where I thought about asking everybody go sit over there,
Speaker 1: going to the prosecution's first witness, very vibrant witness. And
Speaker 1: enjoyed that that was very strong cross examination. Oh, I
Speaker 1: really like when you're you're I'm sorry, thank you, but
Speaker 1: that's not exactly what I asked. Let me reward that question. No,
Speaker 1: I love that. That was great. I mean, what a
Speaker 1: great way to deal with an evasive witness. I was
Speaker 1: I was very impressed with that. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: impeachment with the affidavit didn't quite go as well as
Speaker 1: you planned him. These these are little little tidbits on
Speaker 1: top of the basic thing, which is you guys did
Speaker 1: a great job. Good luck out your head. I just
Speaker 1: need some He has to go get the boxes. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The team spills out onto some of the couches in
Speaker 1: the hallways while lunch boxes are passed around, memorizing stuff
Speaker 1: for the next round. You want to do one run
Speaker 1: through name, but I think I should tell you something
Speaker 1: would The young lady who was the middleist turning, She
Speaker 1: said she really used and how we were all black
Speaker 1: and a team of color as attorneys, all black open
Speaker 1: tip of post. She said, I liked how all your
Speaker 1: attorneys were with it made her feel really empowered as
Speaker 1: a woman. She said, I feel really intimidated by men
Speaker 1: in this space, and just to see all all women
Speaker 1: attorney team and especially women of color, and she said
Speaker 1: it was really impactful. That's great, especially coming from pastball
Speaker 1: to let me keep um. Caitlyn Douglas, I think, first
Speaker 1: of all, I'm very proud of my team. All the
Speaker 1: practice really showed up today and I think we got
Speaker 1: a chance to work out some of those nerves between
Speaker 1: leaving campus, congregating on the bus and then getting into
Speaker 1: the hotels and kind of getting comfortable and settled. So
Speaker 1: I'm very proud of the outcomes. A Gene and DeAndre
Speaker 1: have crossed me way harder and practice like they make
Speaker 1: it to where you're prepared, and so I feel like
Speaker 1: y'all are competing at the law school level. Comment. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's because we have team members who who
Speaker 1: push us, and that's important for somebody like me. But
Speaker 1: their coaches are not about to let them get too overconfidence.
Speaker 1: When you let that sit there and rest, you let
Speaker 1: them set the tone for what's going on. They don't
Speaker 1: your judge doesn't know your law. Your judge isn't judging out.
Speaker 1: They're going like, okay, this is the state's bringing their case.
Speaker 1: It's just how we're gonna go shut it down. Do
Speaker 1: not respond back to the relevant issue on their grounds.
Speaker 1: They have to prove that the purpose was too deep fraud.
Speaker 1: If you burned down its own building and you ended
Speaker 1: right there and you make them look stupid by letting
Speaker 1: them know like you don't even know what and I
Speaker 1: would walk all over them in the clothing. Well, everybody,
Speaker 1: this this is the first round of the first tournament,
Speaker 1: so there's always room for improvement. I thought something were
Speaker 1: done very well. Some things were done okay, something needs
Speaker 1: some work. I think that from a technical proficiency standpoint,
Speaker 1: we did well. I thought you handled the objections well.
Speaker 1: A lot of objections weren't made a lot from the
Speaker 1: very first competition though I expected people to, you know,
Speaker 1: just kind of let a little see how it goes well.
Speaker 1: You know, you will come against teams that will be
Speaker 1: well prepared, so especially at this this is this is
Speaker 1: the first blush. It gets more interesting as we go overall.
Speaker 1: You know, I was I was not displeased with the performance,
Speaker 1: because if I was, I would let you know. As
Speaker 1: the tournament moves on to the second day, Dillard is
Speaker 1: clearly stacking up the winds. This is de Andre. Yes,
Speaker 1: I know what my team score is. I think everyone
Speaker 1: will be pleased with the outcome. My team the you
Speaker 1: know me, Caitlin. Everybody is six and old, meaning we
Speaker 1: won both ballots for all three rounds. So it's amazing.
Speaker 1: And you can feel the confidence and the focus coming
Speaker 1: through from their team huddles. He's covered suspicion and Madox
Speaker 1: just want to say that he spilled bad? Did he not? Y,
Speaker 1: you're going to do that to you? Didn't really good? Um, Alex,
Speaker 1: you did good. You were a little combative and you
Speaker 1: know that. Um. They're gonna if y'all need to make
Speaker 1: any comments, y'all, y'all focus on this men and latin.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna practice this runs cross boy, which it's this one. Mother. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you were hired by the SCRECT. You were hired to
Speaker 1: review the record of Officer Robert Right, Yes, I will.
Speaker 1: You would agree with me that Officer Webber made a
Speaker 1: determination of the way beany made y'all. Yeah, I just
Speaker 1: thought of something. They're saying, medics Diddy in medics field accelerate.
Speaker 1: They can't say that the cause of the fire wasn't accelerant.
Speaker 1: What do we do? What do we mentioned that inclosed? Yes,
Speaker 1: I think we should go in earlier. I need to
Speaker 1: share those documents. That would be the time now it's right.
Speaker 1: So I read a really interesting clip about or about Lagene,
Speaker 1: about your voice and the tenor the tone, the volume
Speaker 1: and the at how that gets construct rude and how
Speaker 1: there's a judgment that comes especially for women when it
Speaker 1: comes to how we use our voice literally sometimes how
Speaker 1: do you use your voice? So as a small anecdote,
Speaker 1: I was in court one time with a judge and
Speaker 1: this judge knew me very well, and I was cross
Speaker 1: examining a defendant, as you guys know, is very rare
Speaker 1: and criminal court because defendants usually don't take the stand,
Speaker 1: but he did and I was cross examining him. And
Speaker 1: it was just a probation violation hearing, so there was
Speaker 1: no jury, It was just the judge, but it was
Speaker 1: a packed court room and the judge because the public
Speaker 1: defender objected and said that I was badgering the witness,
Speaker 1: which was really the defendant, right, And the judge goes, ah,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not really going to sustain that, but misspaying,
Speaker 1: I'd asked that you stay behind the podium because I
Speaker 1: had come out from behind the podium to be able
Speaker 1: to approach the witness box where the defendant was testifying.
Speaker 1: So what I did was, because it wasn't bolted down,
Speaker 1: I just took the podium with me. So I moved
Speaker 1: the podium closer to the witness box and I looked
Speaker 1: at the judge and I said, I'm still behind the podium, judge.
Speaker 1: So my question for you logen A is do you
Speaker 1: feel offended when it's brought to your attention that you
Speaker 1: sound aggressive or does it just kind of water off
Speaker 1: your back, because you know that part of that is
Speaker 1: just it's perception, right, it's because you're a woman, maybe
Speaker 1: because you're a woman of color and somebody has a
Speaker 1: problem with how you're using your voice. That is an
Speaker 1: excellent question, Katie, because when we talk about this so often,
Speaker 1: I'll bring up a small anecdote to just kind of
Speaker 1: like go into how I personally feel about it. At
Speaker 1: a tournament, keep in mind, my counsel, it's all women,
Speaker 1: and we're all black women, and I think at that
Speaker 1: time every witness we had was also a woman too.
Speaker 1: So there's these three female attorneys, black female attorneys, and
Speaker 1: a Maya says this all the time. She's like watching it.
Speaker 1: Is always gonna do her best when she's going up
Speaker 1: against a white man, like that's what they were. And
Speaker 1: you know, I put my I put my poker face
Speaker 1: on the whole time, you know, and I do what
Speaker 1: I have to do. At the end of trial, one
Speaker 1: of the opposing counsels, this young man, he comes up
Speaker 1: to me, he shakes my hand really aggressively and says,
Speaker 1: you're literally so scary. You are so scary, you know.
Speaker 1: I'm trying not to agree act too much to it.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I hope I and on a bad way,
Speaker 1: and he's like, um no, not really. It's just like
Speaker 1: you were just really going after what you want. And
Speaker 1: then he's like, they you just know too much, like
Speaker 1: you just know a lie and that's just crazy. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, so I might not supposed to know enough.
Speaker 1: Maybe you need to know what I know. The comments come.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna it's not my first comment like that,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be my last. Those comments like that
Speaker 1: we get all the time. You kind of just realize
Speaker 1: it and you take it, and you very much take
Speaker 1: it as a compliment, you know, because that's that's basically
Speaker 1: what it is. They were threatened by you in some way,
Speaker 1: shape or form. They weren't expecting you to give the
Speaker 1: performance that you gave, so that that's them. That's all
Speaker 1: on them. So yeah, it hurts in the moment, but
Speaker 1: then you remember, but that's life, and I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get this regardless, so I'm gonna keep doing what
Speaker 1: I'm doing. I still got a ten on that. On
Speaker 1: whatever the part he said, I scared him, Matt, And
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. A special element that was referenced
Speaker 1: in that closing. Ladies and gentlemen, you heard today that
Speaker 1: that very witness has no certification to be able to
Speaker 1: examine fraud and to see if fraud was around in
Speaker 1: any evidence they bought today. And even with that, they
Speaker 1: got up on this stand and told you I saw
Speaker 1: no evidence of fraud. I looked over alone statement, I
Speaker 1: looked over a fire restaurants policy. I looked at every
Speaker 1: single transaction of Chucky's, and I saw no fraud. Ladies
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, the fraud is an element in their case,
Speaker 1: and they bought for a witness that disproves that element.
Speaker 1: And last, but not least, they bought to you, Alex
Speaker 1: Silva of berken Bridge County Firefighter and why we do
Speaker 1: sympathizemy in a family of overall is great job, Mr Bella.
Speaker 1: You're speaking rhythm is outstanding. If you never decided to
Speaker 1: not go to law school, I think you could be
Speaker 1: a preacher. I'm telling you, man, just your rhythm and
Speaker 1: pacing is like outstanding, is an amazing and so if
Speaker 1: you choose to not do law could find a vacation. Man,
Speaker 1: I can't think of any other general comments. You know
Speaker 1: you'll you'll think, did well, keep it up, keep up
Speaker 1: the good work, and yeah, good luck the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. Oh what school? It's prosecution from Dealer. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm Troy Skipworth. I'm from the University of North Alabama
Speaker 1: and Florence, Alabama. Dealer. Uh. The kids always come with
Speaker 1: such joy. You can tell they enjoy what they do.
Speaker 1: They enjoy being there, they enjoy the opportunity, and that
Speaker 1: comes across on what they do, and so they're a
Speaker 1: joy to judge in that sense. And so you don't
Speaker 1: find that from all the teams, but they always bring
Speaker 1: the energy. So I enjoy judging them. Everybody did Gray,
Speaker 1: but I will call both of you out the two
Speaker 1: in the end. My is that my ya? Is that right?
Speaker 1: And then Ella, I think y'all were excellent overall. But yeah,
Speaker 1: same thing. Clothing is very polished, like a good job,
Speaker 1: the very job. They're mostly about intonation and where to
Speaker 1: start vocally as they started left here or we don't
Speaker 1: hear concerning the middle back on stuff think Peaks and
Speaker 1: Valley's vocal intensity, because they're both very good pulp speakers.
Speaker 1: But you just need to know where to start because
Speaker 1: if you start all the way up here vocally like
Speaker 1: whether it's with her tone, whether you're volume and thing
Speaker 1: like God, the only place you can go down where
Speaker 1: we start out here is up. So it kind of
Speaker 1: started happy mediums. They have to room to flush weight
Speaker 1: as we're all so, yeah, thank you, thank you, YEA
Speaker 1: loved it in It's great. It's really enjoytle those seeing.
Speaker 1: Seems like you all actually prepare and do stuff, flesh
Speaker 1: out theories, flesh out character stuff like that. But the
Speaker 1: thing is, seems like I'll make it worth it showing
Speaker 1: up and actually being engaging, being entertaining stuff like that,
Speaker 1: because we don't want to be bored to tears for
Speaker 1: three hours. So thank you all for that. That was
Speaker 1: really nice. The single let's pick a fark you in this.
Speaker 1: We're done, that's what the the books, all right, come on,
Speaker 1: let's go with that. As the tournament comes to a close,
Speaker 1: all of the exhausted students pile into the auditorium for
Speaker 1: the closing ceremonies and award announcements. You can actually breathe easy,
Speaker 1: analyst competitions over with and it's time for closing, so
Speaker 1: get excited. We actually had no eighteen ranks top attorneys,
Speaker 1: so we go straight into nineteen with nineteen ranks from
Speaker 1: Team the Conjuring Dillard A on the defense side, DeAndre
Speaker 1: Bell also with nineteen ranks on the prosecution side from
Speaker 1: Team Insidious Dillard B A Mayor Rondo, and finally we
Speaker 1: had a perfect scoring attorney on the defense side, Dillard B.
Speaker 1: We had two nineteen ranked witnesses they are actually both
Speaker 1: from the same team on defense with nineteen rates from
Speaker 1: Team Insidious Dillard B. It's sterling Ball and that second
Speaker 1: ninth team ranked witness also won an attorney award from
Speaker 1: Team and Citius Dillard B. Lajen A Shelter. We had
Speaker 1: one witness who received a perfect score on the defense
Speaker 1: side with twenty ranks from Dillard A, Caitlin Dougs. Congratulations
Speaker 1: to all of our top witnesses and our attorneys. Now
Speaker 1: we're going to move on to the spirit of antil Lord.
Speaker 1: I love it. It shows that you are a kind team,
Speaker 1: that you care about others, that you people like to
Speaker 1: work with you, and that you're just a good sport
Speaker 1: so it's honestly my favorite award. I think it's the
Speaker 1: best award to receive. We had one team receive it,
Speaker 1: and that would be Dillard B. So at this tournament
Speaker 1: we are giving out three team awards, but we do
Speaker 1: have first and honorable mention that we'd like to announce
Speaker 1: um with five and a half ballots, a CS of
Speaker 1: thirteen and a half and a p D of twenty eight.
Speaker 1: That is roadsby Friday the thirteen in third place, Diller
Speaker 1: Day the Conjuring m and in second place, Road See
Speaker 1: the Perch, and finally first place, the winner of this
Speaker 1: year's second annual Chucky Mullin spook Tacular version of the
Speaker 1: Invitational Poulter guys turn us out yet so regulated you yea,
Speaker 1: so probably you don't. Yeah, I was so happy to
Speaker 1: thank you so much. I really am surprised if we
Speaker 1: had a top perform was all on the same thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But we want to teach the younger ones how we're
Speaker 1: doing right, So we broke the team up and put
Speaker 1: uh inexperienced people with the battles so they learned, like
Speaker 1: even though we dropped those two ballots, like obviously more
Speaker 1: working should be done. I love that I'm not upset about.
Speaker 1: The two ballets were times because I can see where
Speaker 1: you need to him fool and it's good that we
Speaker 1: have We're having these moments early on because it's we're
Speaker 1: getting to have a temperature, what's going on where we
Speaker 1: need to fuck her energy. So this was great. It
Speaker 1: was great. Yeah, but I'm gonna call my dad. He
Speaker 1: deserves Yes, I am overjoyed. Admittedly, Now I do have
Speaker 1: some reservations in terms of the last round. Y'all were
Speaker 1: in there, so y'all kind of heard on what was
Speaker 1: going on. I could have sworn the team could have
Speaker 1: sworn that we were about to go in there and
Speaker 1: take the first place trophy with a perfect score. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting. We're looking at the ballots, especially revereing
Speaker 1: them with Judge Reese. But all in all, Um, I'm
Speaker 1: proud of the team. We all came with the mission
Speaker 1: that that mission was to grow and we did just that.
Speaker 1: Where you took them home, we got a five hour
Speaker 1: ride in front of us, and we gotta stop and
Speaker 1: get something to eat subways, so we'll probably get home
Speaker 1: around midnight. And what happens tomorrow? Tomorrow they get a
Speaker 1: day off and get ready for the next tournament, which
Speaker 1: is in two weeks. Yes, your Honor, the plaintiff has
Speaker 1: a few housekeeping matters to attend to. Firstly, would your
Speaker 1: Honor like a courtesy copy of the plaintiff's notice of appearance? No,
Speaker 1: I don't need one. Would your Honor like a brief
Speaker 1: recitation of the facts for today's case? Not as a
Speaker 1: housekeeping matter? Now? Additionally, your honor permission to have local
Speaker 1: rules constructively ready into the record. Local rules do not
Speaker 1: need to be ready into the record. That's next time
Speaker 1: on Class Action. Class Action is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Sound Argument Created, produced, written, and edited
Speaker 1: by Kevin Huffman and Lisa Gray. Additional story production by
Speaker 1: Jennifer Swan, Kristen Cabrera, Jason Foster, and Wendy Nardi. Executive
Speaker 1: producers are Taylor Chacogne and Katrina Norvelle. Sound design, editing
Speaker 1: and mixing by Evan Tire and Taylor Kogne. This episode
Speaker 1: had additional field production by Nika Troy and Matt Wimer.
Speaker 1: Archival audio provided by w q u E. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favorite shows