Case Problem Corrections/Inquiries

IMPORTANT: Teams are responsible for updating their case materials as changes occur.

1. Exhibit 2 Correction: Dr. Cavanaugh has been an Assistant Medical Examiner from 1995 to present.

2. Question: Should the bus stop be marked on Exhibit 5 or not?

    Answer: No. There are two bus stops. Both bus stops are outside the parameters of Exhibit 5.

3. Question: Will the height and size of the wall between the alley and stalls in Exhibit 5 be given or should we assume they are any height/thickness that we want them to be? Also, what sort of material are they made out of? Is it something that can be seen through?

   Answer: There is no wall between the alley and the stalls only a sidewalk. A revised Exhibit 5 will be released as soon as available.

4. Question: Concerning Exhibit 5--Where is College Avenue?

    Answer: A revised exhibit 5 will be released as soon as available.

5. Question: Are any of the distances in Exhibit 5 going to be clarified--like the width and length of the alley?

    Answer: No

6. Question: Does the stipulation to Exhibit 4 mean that the Prosecution can say that some unidentified witness saw a Cadillac?

    Answer: Yes

6a. Question: Can the Denfense object to it as hearsay if the Prosecution tries to use it?

    Answer: No, they cannot object to hearsay of the statement but they can raise  any arguements appropriate to the weight of the evidence.

6b. Question: What is the extent of the stipulation?

      Answer: The Stipulation is correct.

7. Question: Where are we supposed to assume the coin came from and is the coin in the Exhibit 7 supposed to be the same coin that Dursely put in the bag or just a photo of a similar coin? The "cc" is missing.

    Answer: See revised Stipulations. The "cc" is between the letter "D" and the letter "O" in the word dollar.

8. Question: If Dr. Cavanaugh is unavailable under Stipulation #9, how can she be a witness role?

    Answer: See revised Stipulations

9. Question: It has been 7 years since the incident, but both Whitney and Bailey say that the incident was "about 5 years ago"?

    Answer: This is a typo. The incident was 7 years ago.

10. Question: Was Kex ever charged with robbery or plea-bargain a deal in this case?

      Answer: Students are confined to the case materials. Refer to Mock Trial Rules.

11. Question: Did Bailey ever plea-bargain a deal since he was an accomplice?

      Answer: Students are confined to the case materials. Refer to Mock Trial Rules

12. Question: On page 61 "valla" should be "vaya"?

      Answer: This is a typo. An updated affidavit will be released.

13. Question: B. Shiloh Wadel's sworn statement repeatedly refers to Wizard Dwight as "he". If the student portraying Dwight happens to be female, she can be referred to as "she", correct?

      Answer: Witnesses should be addressed in their actual gender, ie. just because the defendant is a boy does not mean a female student from the other team needs to act as if she were a boy.

14. Question: According to the stipulations, Cavanaugh is to be considered the custodian of Exhibit 4, the police report prepared by Detective Hoyt, who is unavailable. In actual court cases, Cavanaugh would probably not be allowed to answer questions about the information contained in the report, except for such information that may have been used by Cavanaugh in forming his/her medical opinion. As the custodian of that record, Cavanaugh could probably read the entire report (but not excerpts) into the record. Would the Subcommittee consider providing a little additional guidance to the competitors regarding the permissible usage's of Exhibit 4 under Mock Trial rules?

      Answer: No. See Stipulations.

15. Question: Dr. Cavanaugh's sworn statement states that he/she did not visit the accident scene until June 3, 2007 (more that 7 years after the accident). Is it supposed to read June 3, 2000?

     Answer: Yes.

16. Question: Is an English accent considered costuming?

      Answer: No.

17. Question: Cavanaugh worked for the Denver ME office when he/she examined the victim who was killed in Ft. Collins. There's no mention of the ME or the body traveling. Shall we play it however we choose?

      Answer: Please see Question #1 and revised case materials.

18. Question: Leightenen claims to have left Ft. Collins 7 years ago but last saw Wiz in Ft. Collins 5 years ago. Do we just use that contradiction or is it an oversight?

      Answer: The affidavit is accurate.

19. Question: Will you allow a British accent from the Dursley witness?

      Answer: Yes.

20. Question: The police offense report (Exhibit 4) has two sections--one that was completed by Officer Hoyt shortly after the incident, and another completed in 2007 when he "reopened" the case. Each of the two sections starts with "General Offense Information." The General Offense Information in the first section says that the incident was "Reported on May-30-2000 (Tues.)". The General Offense Information in the second section says that the incident was "Reported on May-27-2000 (Sat.)". Is this a typographical error?

      Answer: This is a typographic error. Please see revised.

21. Question: Will the judges have a copy of the jury instructions? Will they officially be read aloud or will it be stipulated that they were read? What is the chain of custody for the coin (Exhibit 7)?

      Answer: All presiding judges and scoring judges will have a full copy of the entire case problem including jury instructions. They receive the information prior to tournament and again in a tournament orientation.
 
The chain of custody is not important as it is not the "real" coin and the parties have stipulated that it is substantially similar to the actual coin in question.  Because the coin is for demonstrative purposes so chain of custody is not required. We did edit the stipulations, please refer to those.  

22. Question: Mock Trial Rule of Evidence 803 has had its subparts relabeled alphabetically in this year's problem. For example, Rule 803(21) is now 803(h). This is not consistent with the rule as it is used by Judges on a daily basis or with the National Mock Trial Rules of Evidence. For students who have previously participated in the program, it will require learning new rule numbers. It will also likely cause confusion for ruling Judges during rounds. Last year, the same change was acknowledged to be a typographical error and the rule numbers were changed to reflect the numbers in the Federal Rules of Evidence and the National Mock Trial Rules. Will students be required to use the rule as currently renumbered or can you correct it to conform with previous years' rules and the National rules? 

      Answer: This was a mistake done in the editing process. Please refer to the updated Mock Trial Rules of Evidence link. This update was emailed to all coaches and will be given in advance to all volunteers.

 23. Question:  May the medical witnesses be subject to a voir dire as to their qualifications?

Answer:  See rule 5.5

24.  Question:  Where is the Y (where Whitney says he parked his car) in relation to the map in Exhibit 5?

Answer:  A bus ride away.

25.  Question:  The spelling is Anheuser-Busch; is the misspelling intentional?

Answer:  See revised Affidavit

26.  Question:  Where is the parking garage?

Answer:  See amended affidavit

27.  Question: From the police report, when was the car found?

Answer:  Students are confined to the case materials. Refer to Mock Trial Rules.

28.  Question:  Can we use the argument of co-conspirators as a hearsay exception?

Answer:  See rule 801