Students at the Elon University School of Law got a sneak peak at a United States Supreme Court argument this week.
A Greensboro attorney who will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court later this month presented his argument in a mock trial in the law school’s courtroom on Feb. 5.
On Feb. 20, Tom Cochran, with the U.S. Federal Public Defender’s office in Greensboro, will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington to present the case of Rita v. United States. Cochran, on behalf of Rita, argues against sentencing guidelines, stating that when a trial court’s reasoning regarding mitigating factors in a sentencing are not laid out in the record, the appellate court has no record of review.
On Feb. 5, Cochran appeared before a bench that included former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice and current Jurist-in-Residence at Elon Law Jim Exum, faculty members of Elon University School of Law and faculty members of Wake Forest University School of Law.
Such mock arguments are used by attorneys who plan to argue before the Supreme Court to fine-tune their arguments.
After the mock trial, students from Elon Law, as well as some Wake Forest students, had the opportunity to question Cochran.