Who did what to whom in St. Mary's?
John Larsen and Alan Toy
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: News
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The NDNU mock trial took place on April 23 in the library between 12:30 and three p.m. The defendant, Scott Robinson of the OIT department, was allegedly charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, illegally transporting, disposing, and removing and selling of a body part.
The two lawyer teams were made up of members of the forensic science class.
Sean Mullens, Natalie Albanese and Lakoyea Muno played the parts of district attorney, assistant district attorney, and a paralegal and served as the prosecutors for the trial.
Defending Robinson were Jorge Guzman, Katerina Schmidt and Rebecca Kariya.
Presiding as judge was Kevin Haithcox, husband of Dr. Isabelle Haithcox, an associate professor in the natural sciences department.
Jurors were pulled from the student body and faculty of NDNU, and although there were 12 at the start of the trial, only 10 remained at the end to declare Robinson not guilty of all charges. However, there was some consideration for declaring a "hung-jury" verdict because the trial started late and ran long, leaving the jury with only five minutes to deliberate.
"It was my first time on a jury," says Alan Toy, one of the student jurors. "I watch 'Law and Order' so I already understood how the trial would go and it was interesting to be involved."
The mock trial was conducted like a standard murder trial, with both prosecutors and defense attorneys calling witnesses to testify for or against Robinson. The witnesses were volunteer students and faculty who adopted roles such as supervising criminalist for the San Mateo County Forensic Lab, played by Lindsey Schiffman, and lead investigator for the Belmont Police Department, played by Milana Jordan, among others.
The story was that a body was found beside the vacuum pump behind St. Mary's Hall. The victim had organs removed from her body and small candles were placed nearby.
The body was supposedly found on March 14 and the victim killed some time between nine and eleven p.m. on March 13.
A witness to the crime, Carrie McKnight of the Career Center, testified on how she found the body the next day. She says that the staff involved went out to dinner the night before and were briefed on the facts of the case, but what they were actually going to say or do was "left up to us."
"It was very interesting," McKnight says. "I was excited to be involved."
The two lawyer teams were made up of members of the forensic science class.
Sean Mullens, Natalie Albanese and Lakoyea Muno played the parts of district attorney, assistant district attorney, and a paralegal and served as the prosecutors for the trial.
Defending Robinson were Jorge Guzman, Katerina Schmidt and Rebecca Kariya.
Presiding as judge was Kevin Haithcox, husband of Dr. Isabelle Haithcox, an associate professor in the natural sciences department.
Jurors were pulled from the student body and faculty of NDNU, and although there were 12 at the start of the trial, only 10 remained at the end to declare Robinson not guilty of all charges. However, there was some consideration for declaring a "hung-jury" verdict because the trial started late and ran long, leaving the jury with only five minutes to deliberate.
"It was my first time on a jury," says Alan Toy, one of the student jurors. "I watch 'Law and Order' so I already understood how the trial would go and it was interesting to be involved."
The mock trial was conducted like a standard murder trial, with both prosecutors and defense attorneys calling witnesses to testify for or against Robinson. The witnesses were volunteer students and faculty who adopted roles such as supervising criminalist for the San Mateo County Forensic Lab, played by Lindsey Schiffman, and lead investigator for the Belmont Police Department, played by Milana Jordan, among others.
The story was that a body was found beside the vacuum pump behind St. Mary's Hall. The victim had organs removed from her body and small candles were placed nearby.
The body was supposedly found on March 14 and the victim killed some time between nine and eleven p.m. on March 13.
A witness to the crime, Carrie McKnight of the Career Center, testified on how she found the body the next day. She says that the staff involved went out to dinner the night before and were briefed on the facts of the case, but what they were actually going to say or do was "left up to us."
"It was very interesting," McKnight says. "I was excited to be involved."
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