This weekend, the National Trial Advocacy Competition team (NTAC) will be heading to East Lansing, Michigan to argue a case involving murder, strange love, and a cowardly killer. The members of the team are: Steven Tschiggfrie, Katie Siefert, Jeannie LaBarbara and Corey Tallent. Last year’s team comprised of Brandon DeBerry, Katie Siefert, Jeannie LaBarbara, Patrick Keegan and alternate Andrea Crivolio made it to the quarterfinals. This year returning team mates Katie Siefert and Jeannie LaBarbara are hoping to bring back a win!
This year’s problem involves an OB/GYN, a former patient’s husband, and a police officer. The victim, Dr. Kelly Green, was a prominent OB/GYN doctor with a successful practice before she was shot at long range by a single snipers bullet while attending her son’s soccer game. The man accused of the killing is her ex-husband, John Green who is a police officer, and an incredible marksman who has access to the ammunition used in his wife’s murder. John Green has a colossal gambling debt, a pending divorce with his now dead wife, and he doesn’t have the money to pay for either. Mr. Green points the finger at Steven Van Kamp, an angry husband of a former patient of Dr. Green’s, who thought she was responsible for the death of his wife and unborn child during childbirth. The jury must decide who was more motivated to kill Mrs. Green
The witnesses testifying include a detective, the defendant and two individuals close to the defendant and the victim. The defendant’s witness says that she was with him at the time of the murder. However, she is a former drug user and has a criminal record. The plaintiff’s witness is a close friend of the victim who was with her when she was killed. It will be up to the teams to use the open relationship that John and Dr. Kelly Green had to their advantage.
Whether John Green will be found guilty or not is uncertain but what is certain is the fact that this year’s team is ready to show East Lansing that the John Marshall Law School mock trial teams go to competitions to win! Good luck to the NTAC team this weekend!!!
