Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Mock Trial Provides Courtroom Experience for Newhouse and College of Law Students

Monday, March 2, 2020, By News Staff
Share
College of LawS.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

students in courtroomTwo Syracuse University professors have teamed up in an innovative cross-campus collaboration to allow future television reporters and future lawyers to experience the drama of a high-profile murder trial.

Professor Elliott Lewis of the Newhouse School and Professor Todd Berger of the College of Law have brought their classes together for the mock trial of People v. Mitchell, a fictional case involving the shooting death of a young woman. The victim’s husband stands accused of her murder.

Berger teaches a course in evidence and trial advocacy. His students are playing the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys, questioning witnesses and making objections during testimony.

Lewis teaches a graduate course in television reporting. His students are practicing their skills as television journalists, performing live updates during breaks in the trial and producing a narrated report after its conclusion.

The master’s students in Lewis’ class were required to request permission from the judge, played by Berger, to allow a television camera in the courtroom and must adhere to the judge’s restrictions limiting its movement. The law students in Berger’s class were instructed to make themselves available for interviews with the reporters following the verdict.

“With a top-rated journalism school and a top-rated trial advocacy program located on the same campus, it doesn’t make sense for us to stay isolated in our academic silos,” Lewis says.

“I honestly don’t know of another law school that has attempted something like this in a beginning trial advocacy class,” Berger says. “It gives law students a taste of having to represent a client in the media as well as in the courtroom.”

The two professors came up with the idea when Lewis approached Berger about having his students observe a mock trial to learn more about the court system. Berger proposed having the journalism students cover it like an actual trial, exposing the law students to working in the media spotlight.

“I have this dream that some of these students will meet again at a real trial someday,” Lewis says. “And both the reporters and the lawyers will have a better understanding of where the other side is coming from as a result of this experience.”

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Spring 2021: Barnes Center at The Arch Services and Hours; Virtual Recreation Jan. 30–Feb. 4   
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By Gabrielle Lake
  • ‘A Crip Reckoning’ to Reflect on the 30th Anniversary of the ADA
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By Martin Walls
  • Chancellor Discusses Enrollment, Budget and Leadership Searches in His Remarks to the University Senate
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By News Staff
  • Community Folk Art Center Presents Exhibition ‘Stories My Grandmother Told Me’
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By News Staff
  • Help SU Win ‘Campus Race to Zero Waste’ Collegiate Recycling Competition!
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

‘A Crip Reckoning’ to Reflect on the 30th Anniversary of the ADA

Burton Blatt Institute’s (BBI) Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach (OIPO) spring 2021 webinar series—(DIS)COURSES Interdisciplinary Disability Dialogues—continues on Feb. 2, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. ET with “A Crip Reckoning: Reflections on the ADA@30.” Join a distinguished panel of thought…

Chancellor Discusses Enrollment, Budget and Leadership Searches in His Remarks to the University Senate

In his remarks to the University Senate today, Chancellor Kent Syverud provided updates on enrollment, budget and leadership searches. Thank you, Professor Haddix. Thanks for being here before the semester starts. We are halfway through the academic year, which has…

Spring Semester Wellness Days

Dear Members of the Syracuse University Community: The spring academic calendar, with the elimination of spring break, creates a semester without many opportunities for students and faculty to take much-needed breaks from their academic work. To support the well-being of…

Help SU Win ‘Campus Race to Zero Waste’ Collegiate Recycling Competition!

Syracuse University is competing in Campus Race to Zero Waste—formerly RecycleMania—the national recycling and waste reduction competition where colleges across North America are ranked on their recycling, trash, and food organics reduction efforts. The competition runs Jan. 31-March 27.  Last…

Volunteers Needed for Spring 2021 Move-in

Volunteers are needed to assist with residential student check-in Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 5-7 at the Ensley Center, and Feb. 8-10 at the stadium. Volunteers will verify students are compliant with testing requirements as well as the Stay Safe Pledge….

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.