Stanford Mock Trial is on a roll and will be sending two teams to national competitions in Iowa and Florida in upcoming weeks. The members recently returned from a successful showing at a regional tournament in Portland, Oregon.

“Based on the tiebreakers used to determine the final order, Stanford teams finished 1st, 4th and 5th,” said Mock Trial Co-president John Krzywicki, a senior.

“During a tournament, teams from different schools compete against one another by presenting one side or the other of a case against another school presenting the opposite side,” he said.

Each year, the team is given a case to prepare for the competitive season. The case this year is a civil suit in which a patient recently released from a mental institution severely injures a young, would-be pro golfer. The mental patient commits suicide before he can be brought to trial and the golfer is suing the hospital for being negligent in its release of the patient.

“Judges do not take into consideration who would have won the case in terms of how the verdict might have turned out,” Krzywicki said. “Only the teams’ performances are considered.”

Mock Trial members usually practice two to three times per week to prepare for tournaments. Although most are interested in law careers, one does not have to be pre-law to participate in the program and learn related analytical skills.

“Mock trial is an activity that enhances public speaking and impromptu thinking,” said Co-President Hanna Chiou, a senior who received an award for her performance in Portland.

Krzywicki pointed out that although the team is comprised of many political science and international relations students, there are others who are majoring in human biology, English and engineering.

“We wanted to extend the opportunity to compete in Mock Trial to as many undergraduates as possible,” Chiou said.

Indeed, Stanford’s Mock Trial program is large enough to support four teams, each composed of eight members.

This is the first time that more than one of Stanford’s Mock Trial teams will be competing at the national level.

“They’ll continue preparing as before by meeting as a group and individually to work on exams, improve witness performances and change opening and closing arguments,” Krzywicki said.

One team will be heading to Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, in the second week of April and another will be heading to St. Petersberg, Florida, in three weeks.

“We are extremely excited about the upcoming national tournaments,” Chiou said. “We had a fantastic showing at Nationals last year and have built Stanford’s name within the competitive Mock Trial community.”

In addition to team success, individual members received awards at the Oregon tournament. Awards were given to freshmen Diane Cheng and Angela Du. In addition, honors were awarded to freshmen Vineeta Agarwala and Dawn Maxey; sophomore Sherri Hansen; and seniors Frances Lewis and Valicia Saucedo.