That was the question before the courtTuesday, Nov. 27 as second-year Elon law students assumed theroles of prosecutors and defense counsel in their Evidencecourse final trials. A total of 13 trials were heldthroughout the day at the H. Michael Weaver building, home ofElon University School of Law. Local attorneys, judges,faculty members and friends of the law school served asjudges, and students from Northeast GuilfordMiddle School and New Garden Friends School served as jurors. Each prosecution and defenseteam was responsible for bringing two people to serve aswitnesses in the fictitious case.
Professor Steve Friedland said the goalof the exercise is to help students review what they’velearned in the Evidence course and promote ease in thecourtroom. Students had the opportunity to make objections,react to the judge’s ruling and think quickly on theirfeet before moving on to the next part of the case. Theexercise also provided the opportunity for students to worktogether in teams in preparation for the trial, and each teamwas expected to outline its preliminary matters, opening andclosing statements, witness examinations and anticipatedevidentiary objections and responses.
The four-hour Evidence class is arequired course during the fall semester for second-yearstudents at Elon Law, along with Constitutional LawI and Business Associations.