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: Butterflyfish

Mock trial intramurals!

First, let me say it was awesome -- I had so much fun.

But I was terrible -- and don't comment saying it couldn't have been that bad. It was -- I let the prosecution throw me with their opening and got a little (read: a lot) combative in my opening, instead of the measured reasoned story I had rehearsed. This is NOT ok at the competition level, and probably not ok in court. I should have objected after her opening instead of arguing with it in mine. (It was really off the reservation. Totally objection-worthy.) As a result, a bunch of evidence got admitted because I opened the door during my opening. Oops.

Also, still reeling from the opening, I didn't object to bunches of objectionable stuff on the first witness. And the prosecutor 'stole' most of my cross exam on direct, so my cross was kinda lame. Also, I forgot to ask the absolutley crucial question my co-counsel needed asked and answered before her prosecution witness came up. Oops. The prosecution also had the witness testify to bunches and bunches of shit that wasn't in the problem. Since you can't object and say "Hey that's beyond the record" I pretty much just had to take it. Though looking back, there was lots of leading going on on direct. But I got to impeach a witness! Yay. Ok, so I screwed up the foundation in order to impeach. . . but I got to do it. Ah well.

I recovered well enough on the direct of my own witness and objected a bunch to the cross. And I screwed up the procedure for getting evidence admitted (oops -- I missed a damn foundation question) but I won my hearsay argument.

My co-counsel rocked the house and got tons of stuff admitted that shouldn't have gotten in and was able to rebut their side pretty cleanly, even though I did kind of leave her a shitstorm to clean up.

The thing I was worried about, failing publicly, just happened. And I am fine. And there are now a ton of things I know that I thought I knew but apparently didn't. But by screwing them up now, I probably never will again.** I'll make all new mistakes!! Woo!!

But, as I said, it was awesome and I had so much fun! I am glad I did it.

I am also really glad its over.

**I envy blogs that can footnote cleanly. When I was in first grade, I won the class spelling bee. That put me as the grade representative in the lower elementary school spelling bee. I came in second. I misspelled "laundry." (It was first grade remember.) Thing is, I still remember that. And I've never misspelled that word since. Countless others if you read the blog, but not laundry. My mock trial experience was a bit like that.

Full post as published by Butterflyfish on September 14, 2008 (boomark / email).