Montgomery County, PA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUST 12, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman announces that on August 3rd through August 11th, 2009, the District Attorney’s Office held its Sixth Annual Summer Intern Trial Competition.  Sixteen law students competed in this year’s competition.  The competitors were certified legal interns from this summer’s class of 36 volunteer interns.  The sixteen competitors were all approved and certified under Pa. B.A.R. 321 and 322 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court so that they could practice law in the District Courts and Courts of Common Pleas under the supervision of the District Attorney’s Office.

The final round of the competition took place on August 11, 2009, in Courtroom “4” of the Montgomery County Courthouse.  The competitors prosecuted the fictitious case of “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Patrick Mulligan” in which the defendant was charged with murder for the poisoning of his college fraternity rival.  This hypothetical scenario was created by two staff members of the District Attorney’s Office and included legal hurdles and factual inconsistencies to create difficulty in the case.  The District Attorney sat as the Judge for the final round of the competition, and the Jury was made up of Assistant District Attorneys and office staff.  This year’s winners were Amanda Dougherty and Noah Marlier.  Amanda is entering her third year at Temple University School of Law.  Noah is entering his third year at Rutgers University School of Law.  The runners-up were Jack Larkin of Villanova University School of Law and Lindsay Carfagno of Temple University School of Law.

 

     Approved for release:

 

     Risa Vetri Ferman

 

 

Amanda Dougherty, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Noah Marlier

 

 

 

Jack Larkin, Amanda Dougherty, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman,

Lindsay Carfagno and Noah Marlier