Partain practices prosecution at UVA

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March 11, 2007

Partain practices prosecution at UVA

Misty Watson The Dalton Daily Citizen Sun Mar 11, 2007, 11:46 PM EDT

Lucy Partain claims singer Johnny Cash should have known better than to shoot “a man in Reno just to watch him die.”

Partain was ready to “prosecute” Cash — or at least the character he portrayed in the song “Folsom Prison Blues” — for first degree murder while trying out for the University of Virginia’s mock trial team.

Partain, an 18-year-old 2006 graduate of Dalton High School, “mocked” closing arguments in a prosecution of a fictional character, landing a spot on the university’s mock trial team as an attorney. The team will compete in the nationals at the beginning of April in Florida. The University of Virginia won the national competition last year.

“I am a huge Johnny Cash fan,” Partain said. “I had a hard time picking a character. Then, I guess, that song came on. It was a lot of fun, but I felt goofy doing it.”

Partain set up her closing arguments as if Cash’s attorney was using an insanity defense.

“I said he knew right from wrong,” Partain said. “I said his mother taught him not to play with guns.

“I used the line ‘I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.’ It was hard to keep a straight face.”

Partain, a first year student majoring in government at the University of Virginia, has been competing in mock trials with the college since she made the team in the fall. She participated in mock trial competitions in high school also.

This year Partain received an outstanding attorney award during one of the tournaments. She received several while in high school.

This year’s mock trial is a civil police brutality case, which is fictional.

A boy was shot during a robbery, but the boy’s parents are claiming the officer who shot him shouldn’t have been on duty. The officer has a previous history with brutality.

Students are given information about the trial at the beginning of the year, and the same trial is performed throughout the year. Partain said there is no outside research needed during a mock trial because everything is contained in the case file.

Before a competition, a coin is flipped to decide which team will be on the prosecuting side and which team will be on the defense. During a tournament, each team defends twice and prosecutes twice.

Partain is a prosecuting attorney during the mock trials.

After finishing her undgraduate degree, Partain wants to attend law school to become a prosecuting attorney.

Lucy Partain is the daughter of Jack and Pam Partain. Judge Jack Partain served as the Conasauga Judicial Circuits district attorney before becoming a judge in the circuit. The circuit includes Whitfield and Murray counties. Pam Partain is the director for the center of continuing education at Dalton State College.

Lucy Partain says she knows participating in a mock trial is different from a real trial.

“In a mock trial they say it’s not the evidence. It’s how you present it,” which is not the case in a real courtroom, Partain said. But being on the team has “helped me with self confidence, public speaking and rules of entering evidence,” she said.

Her favorite duty on the team is performing a cross-examination of a witness.

“I love trying to trip them up,” Partain said. “It’s so fun to get on a roll.”

Witnesses are also part of the team. Students playing those parts have to develop a character, memorize testimony and be prepared for a cross-examination from the other team.

“It’s been amazing,” Partain said of her time on the team. “It’s intense and takes a lot of time committment. It’s taken over my life, in a good way.”

Partain is also on the student council, is a student ambassador and joined the Alpha Phi sorority.

“I love being busy and having things to do,” she said.

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Partain practices prosecution at UVA

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