New courtroom used for literary mock trial

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From left to right: Criminal Justice students Cheyene Huff and Nathan Howell, and Assistant Professor Luke Hunt.

Assistant Professor, Luke Hunt, a lawyer and former FBI Special Agent, led Criminal Justice students through a literary mock trial on Oct. 24.

Hunt’s class took advantage of the courtroom located within the new College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences building at Radford University. Students decided the fate of the character Margaret Macomber in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”

“There are both lion and buffalo hunts and someone dies, but the circumstances surrounding the death are open to question,” Hunt said. “Was it murder? Manslaughter?  Negligent homicide? Perhaps it was a faultless death.”

Radford University students had the opportunity to help determine the matter in their mock trial through pre-defined roles.

Each of the students selected a particular character or role to play during the mock trial, including judges, jurors, prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses.

Hunt said that the goal of the activity was to introduce students to a courtroom setting.

“We have been studying the judicial process from an academic perspective all semester and a mock trial allows students to get a better sense of what they’ve learned in the classroom,” Hunt said.

Radford students decided – through proper exercise and practice of what they’ve learned in class – the fate of Macomber in the courtroom.

Oct 26, 2016
Max Esterhuizen
(540) 831-7749
westerhuizen@radford.edu