We went to our first college mock trial competition at Manchester Community College, and it was a great experience. One of our teams won a “Spirit of AMTA” award for working well with others, Sam Dewey got a best witness award, and I got a very funny score that I thought I should share with you.

Plaintiff’s Closing
8	2

There are two judges, and they each give a score per item, such as a witness direct or cross, or an opening or closing. Generally these scores are very similar. To give you an idea of the discongruity here, allow me to present the scoring guidelines for these two numbers:

8 – A few errors
Exceptional law student. Reacts to actual events well.

2 – Inappropriate behavior, harms team significantly
Unable to contribute. Acts in an obnoxious way or disrupts trial.

My conclusion? The second scoring judge was a complete idiot. 😛