After taking an oath, you sit waiting for the questions to come firing in. You may feel your heart skip a beat as hundreds of people watch and listen, waiting for a clue to give the prosecution an edge.

Then again, why subject yourself to interrogation, when you can be the one firing the questions?

Those are the choices made by the MSU Mock Trial Team, one of many college groups across the country to feel the pressure of a courtroom atmosphere at competitions organized by the American Mock Trial Association.

Although the team only has been around for two years, it has managed to be a competitive opponent - an even greater challenge for a group that receives no funding from the university.

“These kids seem to have a real good time doing it,” said Ed Jocque, the team’s coach and a lawyer with more than 16 years of experience. “We haven’t gone to tournaments where we’ve come back losing, we come back with trophies, plaques and awards.”

At last year’s regional competition in Toledo, Ohio, MSU was the only first-year team to place in the top 10, and two members walked away with awards for their performances.

This year, the team has continued to prove itself as an improving opponent. Most recently, the team placed sixth in a field of 25 teams at the Miami University Mock Trial Invitational Tournament in Oxford, Ohio.

Pre-law senior Erica Manning received the Most Valuable Witness award at the Jan. 25-27 event.

“Some people find competition really stressful,” said Manning, the team’s treasurer. “But I actually like the adrenaline rush, so competition is really fun for me.”

The team has 14 members, split into two squads, who act as either prosecution or defense attorneys and witnesses.

“The tournaments are probably the most fun, even though it’s a lot of stress,” said political science and pre-law sophomore Pete Martini, the team’s historian. “You practice so hard, and then you’re thrown into this arena where you have to think on your feet. And if you do well, you will love it.

“It’s just like sports, you know the practices are no fun, but the game, that’s what you live for.”

The American Mock Trial Association sends registered organizations the selected case for the year, including information such as affidavits of witnesses with certain points that must be introduced and evidence or exhibits with certain rules of court such as objections.

“Every college team has the same criminal case,” Martini said. “But you’ll never hear the same case twice because everyone always goes about it from a different angle.”

The team’s next event will be the Notre Dame University Regional Competition in South Bend, Ind. on Feb. 22-24.

To prepare themselves for competition, the team practices for three hours, twice a week. Although mock trials follow the same guidelines as real courtrooms, the team still makes it an enjoyable experience.

“We have a lot of fun during regular practices because we joke around a lot,” Manning said. “It takes a quick wit to be a witness anyway, so you can throw your own jokes in there and just kind of lighten up the atmosphere even though you’re being serious.”

Any interested students can tryout for the MSU Mock Trial Team.

It is not reserved for specific majors, just hard-working people who are good at quick thinking, Jocque said.

“Nobody thinks like a lawyer, you have to be taught to think like a lawyer,” he said.

Martini said the experience is a good way to decide whether law is the profession a student wants to enter.

“If you don’t know whether or not you want to be an attorney, this is a decent way to get a feel for it,” he said. “You’re not going to learn everything, and it’s a lot of work, but the experience that you’ll take away will definitely serve you down the road.”

For more information, e-mail mcktrial@msu.edu or visit www.msu.edu/~mcktrial.