This past weekend, The Rutgers University Mock Trial Association (RUMTA) A, B, and C teams all competed at their first tournament of the season. RUMTA’s A and B Team competed at George Washington University’s Habeus Hippopotamus Invitational. At this competition A Team’s Humayoon Hashmi won a top attorney award receiving 17 ranks out of 20. B Team’s Hasin Tasneem and Veronica Bido both won top attorney awards receiving 18 ranks and 17 ranks out of 20 respectively. Both teams’ received second honorable mentions at the tournament. In the same weekend, RUMTA’s C team attended La Salle’s Brotherly Love Invitational. C Team Captain Neha Aluwalia received a top witness award with 18 ranks out of 20. C team also received an honorable mention at the invitational.
From left to right: Sunzida Ahmed, Zoe Chang, Humayoon Hashmi, Lucy Huang, Emmett Laurie, Aabha Joshi, Alice Militaru
Rutgers A team went up against mock trial teams from University of Georgia, Howard University, Georgetown University, and Patrick Henry College. Rutgers B team faced teams from The College of William and Mary, Wesleyan University, University of Cincinnati, and University of North Carolina.
From left to right: Margarita Weissman, Nandita Vasantha, Samarth Thakker, Yosan Siele, Ryan Ruffin, Hasin Tasneem, Sami Marshak, Veronica Bido
Rutgers C team also saw their fair share of competition at La Salle University when facing both teams from Drexel University and University of Delaware.
From left to right: Winnie Zhu, Ajoke Adetula, Michael Luckhowec, Christine Tran, Emma Evans, Neha Aluwalia, Kimberly Mohabeer, Michael Brestin, Laura Vorbach
Aabha Joshi, President of RUMTA, was proud of how far all the teams have come with less than a month of practice and stated, “It was our first tournament of the year, and all three teams did exceedingly well. We’re looking forward to learning from our mistakes and doing even better at tournaments in the future”.
This year RUMTA argues in the criminal case State of Midlands v. Jordan Ryder, an involuntary manslaughter or aggravated murder case involving a parent accused of the death of their daughter. RUMTA thanks Head Coach Michael Roberts of Roberts & Teeter, and Assistant Coaches Bren Simonson, Esq. and Caroline Bielak, Esq.