recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Morgan Jones

Emoji used by AMTA to represent Jones

**Morgan Jones** is Kerry Bell-Leon's best friend and the building superintendent of the Jaywood Building, the condo complex where both Jones and the Bell-Leons live. Jones thinks of themself as a jack of all trades, and describes Jones's job as "part doorman, part handyman, part concierge, and part security officer".

Jones was with Bell-Leon for much of the night of July 16, and the first person to discover Bell-Leon after the attack took place. Jones also was the one who called 911.

## Relationships

**Kerry Bell-Leon:** Best friend

**Bailey Bell-Leon:** Former babysittee

## Trivia

* Jones's birthday is on July 16, which is the day the attack took place.
Chris Villafana

**Chris Villafana**, spouse of Harper Villafana, was a writer employed at Midlands Television Studios for the program *Midlands After Dark with Alex Grace*. On June 29, 2017, Villafana was attacked by a chimpanzee named Elias, and died at the hospital soon after. This makes Villafana the victim in *MTS v. Kosack*.

## Relationships (as of death)

**Harper Villafana:** Spouse

**Tony Gomes:** Good Friend

**Alex Grace:** Boss

**Jameson Clark:** Coworker

**Ashley Thornhill:** Coworker
TAANA - Defense Helper

TAANA - Defense Helper is an accessory that creates a shield that blocks damage when hit.

* The shield does not take damage when damage is evaded.
* The shield regenerates in between combat automatically. It will regenerate when damage is not taken for a few moments. It will not regenerate when there are still enemies in the same room.
* Equipping the accessory summons a cosmetic pet that hovers around you.
* The shield will block all direct damage - Projectiles, Melee Attacks and the inital damage from Poison and Burn, but will not block damage from debuffs (i.e. poison's 2 damage per second and burn's 4 damage per second)
* The shield will not prevent the Rapier of Super Speed's buff from being removed when being hit
Lee and Andi Smith v. J.J. Thompson

## Synopsis

On February 8, 2002, Derric Smith, a seven-year-old boy, died as a result of allegedly being struck by a vehicle in front of his home in State Center, Midlands. J.J. Thompson, the defendant, is being sued by the parents of Derric Smith for allegedly hitting their son, thereby causing his wrongful and untimely death.

## Witnesses

### Plaintiff

* Lee Smith
* Andi Smith

### Swing

* Ryan/Ryanne Stanfield
* Erin Harper
* Jo Blount
* Abe/Abbe Brun
* Dr. Don/Donna Racheter
* Carter Palmer
* C.J. Calhoon
* Elisha Brown

## Other Case References

* In State v. Perry, Detective Donny Walsh states that their mentor and boss was Officer Ryan Stanfield. Walsh also states that Stanfield was the one who suggested Walsh apply for a Detective's position.

## Trivia

* One of the witnesses in this case, Dr. Don/Donna Racheter, is named after one of the founding members of AMTA's board of directors, Dr. Don Racheter.
Riley Winter

Photo from AMTA Instagram

**Riley Winter** was a prominent pop culture journalist who worked at TBD, Inc. from July 14, 1988 to December 23, 2015 when Winter was fired. During Winter's time at TBD, Winter held the positions of junior copy editor, copy editor, staff writer, and senior staff writer.

In *Winter v. TBD*, Riley Winter is the party opponent for the plaintiff, and alleges that Winter was fired due to age discrimination.

## Relationships

**Sawyer Shaw:** Former Boss

**Austin Perez:** Former Editor-in-Chief

**Skye Martin:** Former HR Manager

**Cary Kramer:** Psycologist

## Trivia

* Riley Winter turned 51 on Sunday, November 20, 2016 while this case was active. In some areas, the trial was held *on* Winter's birthday.
* As seen in the infobox photo, Dylan Hendricks from *State v. Hendricks* swiped left on Winter on the dating app Tender.
Dr. Willoughby Hawkins

**Dr. Willoughby Hawkins** is a professor and the department chair of anthropology at Midlands State University. Dr. Hawkins has taught courses in evolutionary anthropology, primatology, and animal psychology, and previously spent two years doing field research on chimpanzees.

In addition to appearing in court as a defendant (see Trivia), Dr. Hawkins has testified as an expert in 25 total cases, 14 times for the plaintiff and 11 times for the defense. In *MTS v. Kosack*, Dr. Hawkins is being retained by the plaintiff to analyze possible characteristics of Elias as a young adult male chimp, and whether it was reasonable to bring him on the set of *Midlands After Dark*.

## Relationships

**Alex Grace:** Representative for Hawkins's client, MTS

## Trivia

* In their report, Hawkins mentions getting arrested for trespassing in July 2011 after attempting to free a chimpanzee from a live animal show at RacheterWorld Amusement Park. This is a reference to the setting of the robbery in the 2013-14 case *State v. Bowman*.
	+ Hawkins also says the live animal show was replaced by a Tunnel of Love due to Hawkins's actions, which is one of RacheterWorld's featured attractions pertinent to *State v. Bowman*.
Baxter v. Christine Cress

## Synopsis

On July 30, 1986, 75 year old Marion Cress suffered a heart attack in the hospital and died shortly afterwards. After Marion's heart attack but before his death his lawyer gave Marion his unsigned will and had him sign it, 15 minutes before he would die. The will left Marion's entire $15 million dollar estate behind to Marion's wife, Christine Cress, and nothing behind to Marion's disinherited sister Francis Baxter. Baxter is now contesting the will, alleging issues of competence and undue influence.
Elizabeth Ginger v. Max Heisman (NCT)

## Synopsis

On March 17, 2015, the city of Truman, Midlands held its mayoral election. That night, the media reported that incumbent Max Heisman defeated challenger Elizabeth Ginger, and the city tabulation director certified the result the next day. On March 20, Ginger filed a civil lawsuit against Heisman that alleges election fraud and seeks to overturn the election. An expedited trial is scheduled to begin April 17, 2015. Both parties have requested a jury trial.

## Witnesses

### Plaintiff

* Sam Ziegler
* Amari White
* Gray Garcia

### Defense

* Max Heisman
* Chase Michael

### Swing

* C. Davis
* Emile Midori
* Jody Sandberg

## Other Persons of Interest

* Elizabeth Ginger
* Casey French

## Other Case References

* Emile Midori talks about how they visited Chuggie's Bar after Election Day. This is the same bar as depicted in Daniel v. Chuggie's Sports Bar and State v. Dawson.
* Some witnesses report that Casey French used the alias "Bailey Reynolds" at points. This is a reference to the kidnapped child Bailey Reynolds from State v. Perry.
* One of the three companies that did polling for the mayoral election was Blitz News Network, the defendant news company from Walton v. BNN.
* Emile Midori mentions the death of Jacob Bennett from State v. Owens, calling him a "family friend."
* Max Heisman's opponent in the 2011 Mayoral Election was Ryan Sullivan, the District Attorney from State v. Dawson.
* This case has been cited as relevant case law in several cases afterwards for witness authentication of emails and/or text messages, starting with State v. Bancroft and Covington.
* In State v. Bancroft and Covington one of the gifts on Chase Covington's financial disclosure form is a statue from Max Heisman.
* In State v. Ryder, one of the media sources asked to put out a watch list for Parker Paige is Jody Sandberg, a witness in this case.

## Trivia

* This was the first case solely designed for NCT competition, thereby supplanting the case previously used all season.
State of Midlands v. B.F. De La Porta and Poe Cameron

## Synopsis

During the annual charity gala for Sohi Children’s Hospital, four masked individuals break into the vault at Miller Tower. During the heist, one of the armed robbers and Emory Sands, a Miller Tower security officer, are severely wounded. Two of the robbers flee via a helicopter on the rooftop and two flee into the streets of Santa Ivo City. After an extensive investigation on the local and federal level, Poe Cameron is arrested as one of the four suspected armed robbers, and local billionaire Berkley De la Porta is arrested for funding the criminal operation.

## Witnesses

### Prosecution

* Kit Bahmani
* Shar Burke
* M. Nguyen
* Emory Sands
* Blaise Nova

### Defense

* Berkley F. De la Porta
* Poe Cameron
* Amarii Ebi
* Parker Orlov

### Swing

* Jun Cage
* Cyprus Cosmos

## Other Persons of Interest

* Memphis Raynes
* Berthe Morisot

## Other Case References

* De la Porta mentions getting his helicopter license from the now out-of-business Koller-Campbell Air company. This is a reference to the Ari Felder v. Koller Campbell Air, LLC civil case.
	+ Detective Bahmani also mentions that the helicopter used in the heist is a stolen Koller-Campbell helicopter.
* M. Nguyen's DNA report mentions finding DNA coming from Rory Shelton. This is a reference to the swing witness of the same name from the State of Midlands v. Whit Bowman criminal case.

## Trivia

* The prosecuting team must select either B.F. De la Porta or Poe Cameron to prosecute. Once the prosecuting team has selected their desired defendant, the prosecution must also select which charges they will pursue against their desired defendant.
	+ Berkley De la Porta and Poe Cameron each have 5 potential indictments that can be selected.
	+ The defendants are also constrained to their particular indictments. If De la Porta is prosecuted, Cameron is not available as a witness and vice versa.
Harper Villafana

**Harper Villafana** is the former spouse of Chris Villafana, the writer at *Midlands After Dark with Alex Grace* who was killed in the chimpanzee attack on June 29, 2017. Before the attack, Villafana worked as an entertainment reporter and editor, but quit Villafana's job at *Parsnip* after Chris's death.

Villafana received Worker's Compensation from Midlands Television Studios in order to prevent Villafana from filing a lawsuit for wrongful death against any party. Nevertheless, Villafana was subpoenaed and can be called by either the plaintiff or defense in *MTS v. Kosack*.

## Relationships

**Chris Villafana:** Former spouse

**Laura Wolden:** Former assistant

**Tony Gomes:** Friend

**Sawyer Shaw:** Former boss

**Ashley Thornhill:** Ally

**Danny Kosack:** Onetime interviewee

## Trivia

* Harper Villafana's first job was as a camera reporter for TBD Magazine, Inc., which was the defendant in the 2016-17 case *Winter v. TBD*.
	+ Regarding TBD, Villafana says the company went under after gaining too much of a bad reputation from Riley Winter's lawsuit.
* Villafana recalls a conversation with Chris Villafana, in which the latter mentioned producers of *Midlands After Dark* wanting to bring on Chase Covington as a guest, then interview Covington about Covington's sister's rehab. Covington was one of the two defendants in the case *State v. Bancroft and Covington*.
Sean and Leigh Jeffries v. Polk County Police Department

## Synopsis

On January 2nd, 2005, off-duty police officer Jamie Conmey heard a radio transmission come over dispatch saying that two suspects had just robbed Joe’s Corner Store. The description said that the perpetrators were wearing white T-shirts and blue jeans, appeared to be teenagers, and had taken the cash in a brown paper bag. Officer Conmey put on the siren and started searching the neighborhood surrounding the store. Officer Conmey saw a teenager dressed in a white shirt and jeans climbing a fence in an alleyway. Officer Conmey pulled over and told the teenager to come down. The teenager stopped climbing the fence but did not come down. Seconds later, Officer Conmey shot the teenager in the side. Officer Conmey claims to have seen a gun, though no weapon was found at the scene. The teenager was rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible, where the teenager almost immediately fell into a coma – a state in which the teenager remains today.

The teenager was Max Jeffries. Max’s parents, Sean and Leigh Jeffries, filed suit against the Polk County Police Department, alleging that the actions of Officer Conmey, who committed suicide shortly after the incident, and thus the Polk County Police Department, deprived Max Jeffries of Jeffries’ constitutional rights to due process of law. In addition, the Jeffries allege that through its policy, custom, and practice, the Polk County Police Department deprived Max Jeffries of Jeffries’ rights to due process of law. The Jeffries allege that as a result of the actions of Officer Conmey and the Polk County Police Department, their child experienced life-threatening injuries, and as such they are entitled to damages. This case has been bifurcated and as such, damages are not to be considered in this same proceeding.

## Witnesses

### Defense

* Trinidad Martinez
* Chief Julian Polson

### Swing

* Loren Ingman
* Chris Conmey
* Pat Cross
* Officer Cory Drake
* Dr. Dana Haskins
* Dr. Jan Adams
* Alex Johnson
* Tony Smith
* Halva Newberry
* Ryan Guerrera
* Cooper

## Other Persons of Interest

* Max Jeffries
* Officer Jamie Conmey

## Other Case References

* Dana Haskins references State v. Thornhill when Haskins notes that their spouse works at Tucker, Roberts, and Payne, Haskins also notes the Thornhill incident that happened there.
* In State v. Dawson, there is a reference to an Officer Ingman, which is a clear reference to Officer Loren Ingman from this case.

## Trivia

* This is the longest documented AMTA case by page count, totaling at 175 pages for the Nationals version of the case.
* This case has the most witnesses out of any documented AMTA case at 14 witnesses, 11 of which are swing witnesses, meaning this case also has the most swing witnesses out of any documented AMTA case.
Dr. Cary Kramer

**Dr. Cary Kramer** is a psychiatrist at their solo medical practice in Midlands, which focuses on mental health issues for people over 40, specifically involving major life changes.

Dr. Kramer has served as an expert witness in 20 criminal cases prior, but never a civil case before this one, and is being retained as an expert witness to examine Riley Winter's PTSD in *Winter v. TBD.*

## Trivia

* Cary Kramer is only called if the trial is pursuing damages. Otherwise, if the trial is bifurcated, Kramer is not available as a witness.
Scouter

“According to fiat, it’s worth 530,000 gold… But then again…” - Millia -

allows the players to view direct number representations of enemy health bars, with the exception of all Bosses except Erta Ale.

The Scouter is an unlockable Uncommon Accessory.

It is the only equipment in the game that allows the players to view direct number representations of enemy health bars, with the exception of all Bosses except Erta Ale's hands.

The Scouter is, of course, a reference to the Scouter of Dragon Ball fame which could measure power levels.

Trivia:

The flavor text's quoted 530.000 gold is the power level of Freiza from the dragon ball series in his first form.
Dr. Jordan Smith

### Occupation

Owner of Smith Engineering ConsultantsChair of the Department of Applied Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of Midlands

## Trial Information

### Called by

Prosecution

**Dr. Jordan Smith** is an independent contractor who owns a consulting firm in the state of Midlands. Smith also chairs the Department of Applied Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of Midlands School of Engineering and Applied Mathematics. Smith is commonly retained in cases involving cell phone tracking, where most of the cases they've been retained in involve determining if a driver was on their cell phone before an accident. Smith has been retained in 27 court cases, 19 civil and 8 criminal.

## Details

### Educational Background

Smith received their Bachelor's degree in Applied Engineering from the University of Virginia. In 1994, Smith received their doctorate in Applied Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley where Smith wrote their dissertation on using cell phone data to determine someone's location. Smith is commonly regarded as the pioneer of the field of cell phone tracking. Besides their dissertation, Smith has published 36 peer-reviewed articles in the field of telecommunications.

### Professional Background

For an unknown amount of years, Smith was an associate and assistant professor of engineering at Midlands Technical Institute. In 2010, Smith left this position to chair the Department of Applied Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of Midlands, as well as create their own consulting firm.

### State v. Hendricks

On July 30th, 2017, Smith was retained by the Polk County District Attorney's office to determine if defendant Dylan Hendricks's cell phone data could shed any light on Hendricks's whereabouts on the night of July 16th, the night when the attempted murder of Kerry Bell-Leon happened.

Based on Hendricks's use of the dating app Tender and calls that Hendricks made and received on their cell phone, Smith was able to conclude that Dylan Hendricks was in the downtown Midlands City area, and specifically at the scene of the crime moments before it took place.

## Trivia

* It is unknown if Dr. Smith has been paid a retainer, been paid for their investigation, or been paid for their testimony in court. If not, Smith is the only independent expert witness to not be financially compensated for their time.
Tracey Minetos

**Tracey Minetos** is the step-sibling to Chase Covington, the former Chair of the Midlands State Gambling Commission and the co-defendant in the 2015-2016 AMTA case State of Midlands v. Avery Bancroft and Chase Covington. Minetos was subpoenaed and can be called by the Prosecution to testify against their step-sibling or Avery Bancroft.

## Relationships

**Chase Covington:** Step-sibling

**Avery Bancroft:** Acquaintance

## Details

Minetos' involvement with the the State v. Bancroft and Covington case started when they moved in with their step-sibling Chase Covington after they lost ownership of Chuggie's Bar.

In November 2014, around Thanksgiving, Covington invited Bancroft over to their house in order to discuss Bancroft's proposal for a new casino. While Minetos was present for the entire meeting, they were mostly distracted by trying to impress Bancroft with their bar-tending skills in hopes of getting a job at Bancroft's new casino. Regardless, they overheard some of the conversation and saw some actions made by the two defendants which heavily implied that a plan for a bribe was being made.

Minetos can also testify to the fact that Covington accepted gifts from other high profile Midlands business people and politicians in exchange for favors. However they lament the fact that Covington didn't use any of their influence to stop Minetos from losing their liquor license. Regardless, Minetos believes that Covington is an honest politician, and that more people like them deserve to be in Washington, D.C.

## Trivia

* What caused Minetos to lose their liquor license and ownership of Chuggie's Bar was the death of Vanessa Sullivan, the daughter of the most prominent prosecutor in Midlands state. This death was explored in the 2011-2012 AMTA case *State v. Dawson*.
* In *MTS v. Kosack*, Harper Villafana refers to Minetos as female by describing Minetos as Covington's sister.
* Chuggie's Bar is mentioned in the 2017-2018 AMTA case *State v. Hendricks*. The victim in the case, Kerry Bell-Leon, was at the bar about a half an hour before they were attacked in their apartment.
Landon Greene

**Landon Greene** is currently the lead writer at TBD, Inc. Greene was hired by Sawyer Shaw for the new position "lead writer" on December 22, 2015, the day before Riley Winter was fired from the position "senior writer".

In Winter v. TBD, the plaintiff alleges that Greene was specifically hired to *replace* Winter, due to the similarity of the job titles and the duplicate job descriptions.

## Details

Before working at TBD, Landon Greene graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in English, then moved to New York City as an editorial assistant for Harper Collins. Greene's first big publication was an article Greene pitched to *Rolling Stone*, which ended up being the cover story. After that, Greene wrote freelance for multiple well-known journals, magazines and websites. When asked if age was ever a factor in hiring Greene, Sawyer Shaw responded, " It was, only in the sense that if Landon could accomplish this much at such a young age, then that indicated great future value."

Shaw first encountered Greene's work on December 20, 2015 while flying to a wine-tasting in Buenos Aires. After reading what Shaw called a "brilliant" interview of celebrity Jennifer Lawrence, Shaw read other articles written by Greene, and upon landing Shaw got Greene's contact info from Shaw's secretary Bobbie Lin. Shaw called Greene and offered Greene the position of lead writer for double Greene's current salary (which Shaw later learned was $90K), and to respond to the offer within 48 hours. It should be noted that neither Austin Perez nor Skye Martin, who are normally in on hiring and firing decisions, did not know about Shaw's decision to hire Greene until after Greene accepted the job offer on December 22, when a press release announcing the hiring went out at 11:45 AM on December 23—the same time Winter found out Winter was being terminated.

When asked about the hiring decision later, Shaw insisted that Landon Greene was *not* in fact hired to replace Riley Winter, describing their job titles, job descriptions, and writing focuses as "totally different". In fact, their job descriptions both read:

> Greene’s/Winter's job responsibilities include conceiving, researching, and writing articles about popular American culture, including but not limited to movies, television, celebrities, music, sports & leisure, and pop culture. Greene/Winter also has exclusive responsibility for all celebrity interviews.
>
>

Greene currently earns $180K at TBD, $20K less than what Winter used to make. But for age, Greene is a member of all the same protected classes as Winter (e.g. gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, religion, and disability status), making their ages the only factor that sets the two apart.

## Trivia

* Landon Greene is briefly mentioned in *MTS v. Kosack* by Ashley Thornhill. According to Thornhill, Greene was a regular guest on *Midlands After Dark with Alex Grace*, and was so popular that rumors circulated among the show crew about Greene replacing Alex Grace as host.
Skyler Sinclair

**Skyler Sinclair** was a chemistry/pharmacology major at Midlands State University and roommate of Alex Everett. For about a year, Sinclair and Everett ran a drug ring selling Adderall and other prescription drugs on MSU campus under the supplier Malcolm until Detective Jamie Robinson, under the alias Mickey Keenan, infiltrated their ring. Sinclair is suspected of murdering Robinson mere hours after BNN exposed Robinson's identity.

In *State v. Hendricks*, Detective M. Nichols reveals that Sinclair was in fact found guilty of murdering Robinson, and as such Sinclair has been serving jail time ever since.

## Relationships

**Alex Everett:** Roommate, friend

**Malcolm:** Drug supplier

**Jamie Robinson:** Former tech assistant

**Taylor Strombom:** Friend

**Professor Harris:** Music professor

**Dylan Hendricks:** Cell mate

## Trivia

* During *State v. Hendricks*, defendant Dylan Hendricks is Skyler Sinclair's cell mate. At one point, Sinclair tells Det. Nichols and other officers that Hendricks confessed committing attempted murder to them, although Hendricks later denies making such a confession.
* In *State v. Sinclair*, the defense is required to call Sinclair no matter what, because Sinclair submitted a voluntary statement instead of an affidavit. This is the only NCT case thus far in which a party is required to call a certain witness unconditionally.
* Sinclair is the same height as Jamie Robinson and three inches shorter than Alex Everett.
* Sinclair is also left-handed.
Midlands State University

**Midlands State University** (not to be confused with the University of Midlands) is probably the best-known institute of higher education in the state of Midlands. Its mascot is the Bulldogs. It is located in Midlands City.

## Notable Students and Alumni

* Skyler Sinclair '17
* Alex Everett '17
* Taylor Strombom '18
* Dr. Vic Fogel
* Kirby Doolittle
* Tony Gomes '09)
* Jerri Anderson '17
* Greer Grace
* Reese Butters

## Featured Cases

The following is a comprehensive list of cases in which MSU was one of the prominent locations--i.e., part of the case actually took place there:

* *State v. Sinclair*
* *Winter v. TBD*
Estate of Petrillo v. Harper Martini and Peony Estates

## Synopsis

Casey Soto and Genesis Petrillo had planned their wedding for June 8, 2019 at Peony Estates, a winery and bed & breakfast owned and operated by Casey’s parent, Harper Martini. During the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, Harper presented Genesis with a bottle of wine, which Genesis drank. After drinking the wine, Genesis died, and a toxicology report revealed the presence of pesticides in Genesis’ system. Genesis’ estate has sued Harper Martini and Peony Estates for battery and negligence per se.

## Witnesses

### Plaintiff

* Angel Rodriguez
* Lonnie Paras
* Riley Adkins-O'Keefe

### Defense

* Harper Martini
* Austin Lewis
* Blaire Osborne

### Swing

* Sam Arnould
* Danny Francazio
* Casey Soto

## Other Persons of Interest

* Genesis Petrillo
* Drew Matsoukas
* Kirby Doolittle
Ari Felder v. Koller Campbell Air, LLC

## Synopsis

On July 4, 2021, attorney Morgan Felder joined pilot Reese Campbell for a flight over Basin Lake. After departing the Rapid River Valley Airfield, the aircraft deviated from its planned route and eventually crashed into the nearby Mount McIntosh. There were no survivors. Ari Felder—Morgan’s spouse—has brought a negligence suit against Koller Campbell Air LLC, the company that owned the aircraft.

## Details

This case is the AMTA official 2022-2023 case.

## Witnesses

### Plaintiff

* Ari Felder
* Drew Hubbard
* Jamie Savchenko

### Defense

* Casey Koller
* Bellamy Air
* Kennedy Heisman
* R. Moore

### Swing

* D.B. Gelfand
* Mandy Navarra
* Shannon Shahid
* Aubrey Roy (Plaintiff Priority)

## Trivia

* In Casey Koller's deposition, when asked about where the headquarters for Koller-Campbell Air is, they respond by saying that they had originally wanted to build an office on the land where Chuggie's Bar burned down. This is a reference to the previous year's case, State of Midlands vs. Dakota Sutcliffe, which takes place at Chuggie's.
* One of the witnesses, D.B. Gelfand, is named after the chair of the civil case committee, Michael Gelfand.
* In the pretrial order, there are 3 potential affirmative defenses that the defense can pursue: That a rogue firework blinded Reese Campbell, causing him to crash the plane, that unforeseeable mechanical failure occurred, or that Campbell suffered a medical emergency that incapacitated him. Defense can also pursue an assumption of risk defense.
* This case relies heavily on expert witnesses, with 7 of the witnesses being pilots/mechanics, and 1 being a physician. Aside from the party representatives, there is only one character witness, Shannon Shahid, who also happens to be the only eyewitness to the July 4th crash.
* Both of the deceased, Reese Campbell and Morgan Felder, happen to be lawyers.
* Unlike many civil cases, this case is extremely jargon heavy, with aviation related terms such as "IFR", "VFR", "Scud Running", "Fuel Sumping", and "Foggles", all of which are extremely important to the case.
Adrian Edwards

**Adrian Edwards** is the founder and CEO of TURNTable, Inc., a music streaming platform. Edwards has been best friends with Sawyer Shaw since they met in college, though the two were never romantically involved.

In *Winter v. TBD*, Adrian Edwards is available to be called by the defense, in order to bolster the defense's claim that Shaw fired Winter because Winter wrote an article about TURNTable that Edwards found offensive.

## Trivia

* Adrian Edwards was born on New Year's Day.
State of Midlands v. Dakota Sutcliffe

## Synopsis

Dakota Sutcliffe was originally charged with and convicted of felony murder. Sutcliffe’s conviction was overturned, and the case was remanded back to the trial court after the Midlands Supreme Court found the felony murder rule to be unconstitutional. The State of Midlands has indicted Sutcliffe on one count of Aggravated Arson for the burning of Chuggie’s Bar and the death of a local firefighter, Jaylen Williams.

## Witnesses

### Prosecution

* D. Weber
* Nour Khan
* Kiran Singh
* Adrian Lupin

### Defense

* I. Syed
* Mel Jelani
* Dakota Sutcliffe

### Swing

* Skylar De Jong
* Maddox Vaughn
* Alex Silva
* Tobin Johnson
* Hoyte Lenon

## Other Case References

* This case takes place at Chuggie's Bar, a location referenced in many previous cases, most notably being the location where the events of Daniel v. Chuggie's Sports Bar, State v. Dawson, and some of the events of State v. Hendricks all take place
* This case features several references to Drew Walton, who is the Plaintiff from Walton v. BNN, and who was also mentioned in State v. Bancroft & Covington and Tray Westenmeier v. Kiran Walton.
* Skylar de Jong mentions Alex Grace, a witness from State v. Owens and MTS v. Kosack, as someone who worked as a bartender before making it as an actor.
* Maddox Vaughn is lead security officer at the Jaywood Building, which is where the crime in State v. Hendricks took place. Vaughn even mentions that the crime was the incident that led to the previous building manager getting fired.
* Maddox Vaughn claims to have seen Dakota Sutcliffe at the Midlands Marina, a location from State v. Sinclair.
* Maddox Vaughn mentions Peony Estates wine, a reference to Estate of Petrillo v. Harper Martini and Peony Estates.
* Tobin Johnson mentions Safety Inspector Adkins-O’Keefe, a witness from Estate of Petrillo v. Harper Martini and Peony Estates.
* Several of the witnesses mention Ruel Ellis and Danny Dawson, defendants from State v. Ellis and State v. Dawson, respectively, two previous cases involving Chuggie's Bar.
* A building that used to be Bugs-B-Gone is located between Chuggie's and Harlowe's Hardware, a reference to Tray Westenmeier v. Kiran Walton.

## Trivia

* Dakota Sutcliffe, the defendant, cannot be called as a witness. This makes it the second known documented case where the defendant is not allowed to testify, after State v. Campbell.
Taylor v. Lance Memorial Hospital

## Synopsis

A sex discrimination lawsuit involving a male nurse suing their employer.

## Trivia

* This is the first case AMTA ever made, as well as the first civil case.
* Only 10 teams competed with this case, according to an article written by AMTA historian Brad Bloch.
* This case was also used for Iowa High School Mock Trial in 1985.
Kirby Doolittle

**Kirby Doolittle** is a student at Midlands State University, and was an intern at TBD, Inc. twice -- in the Fall 2015 semester (unpaid) and the Summer 2017 semester (paid). As an intern, Doolittle spent Tuesdays working for Austin Perez and Fridays working for Taylor Erick, mostly doing coffee runs, fetching office supplies, and making copies. While working at TBD in 2015, Doolittle and Riley Winter were good friends.

In *Winter v. TBD,* Kirby Doolittle is the only witness who communicated with Riley Winter outside a professional setting by visiting Winter's home in January 2016, and can testify to Winter's emotional state. This is especially helpful for the defense if the plaintiff is pursuing damages.

## Relationships

**Sawyer Shaw:** Boss

**Taylor Erick:** Boss

**Austin Perez:** Boss

**Riley Winter:** Friend

## Trivia

* From an academic standpoint, Kirby Doolittle is terrible at writing college essays, as seen in Doolittle's essay "What Kirby Learned."
Francis Leo

**Francis Leo** was the editor-in-chief at TBD, Inc. from 2011 to January 2, 2014, when Leo was fired by new CEO Sawyer Shaw at the age of 57.

Before 2011, Leo worked as an editor at a Philadelphia-based culture journalism magazine called *Born on the Fourth*, which is where Austin Perez began working in 2005. Leo later helped Perez get an editorial job at TBD when Leo was first hired there, and it was later Perez who was promoted to editor-in-chief in Leo's stead.

## Trivia

* In Kissner v. Polk Hospital, there is a witness who is also named Francis Leo. This is a different Francis Leo from the person in this case, because that Francis Leo was 28 years old in 2005, while the Francis Leo in this case is 57 years old in 2014. Their ages don't even remotely match up, meaning they're different people.
Sawyer Shaw

**Sawyer Shaw** is a self-described "serial entrepreneur" who serves as the CEO of three companies: Jel, Inc., HappyLand Toy Co., and TBD, Inc. Shaw also owns an investment vehicle called Shaw Things, LLC. In the scope of TBD, Shaw is a busy CEO who is rarely in the office, but checks in with the company's department heads and makes hiring and firing decisions as needed.

In *Winter v. TBD*, Sawyer Shaw is the party representative for TBD, Inc, and alleges that Winter was fired due to poor job performance and offending a major advertiser.

## Relationships

**Adrian Edwards:** Best Friend (estranged), fellow CEO

**Ainsley Mayes:** Lawyer

**Landon Greene:** Employee

**Riley Winter:** Former Employee

**Skye Martin:** Employee

**Austin Perez:** Former Employee

**Taylor Erick:** Employee

**Bobbie Lin:** Personal Secretary at TBD

## Trivia

* One of Sawyer Shaw's companies, HappyLand Toy Co., was the defense party opponent in the 2010-11 case Davis v. Happy Land Toy Company.
State of Midlands v. Ruel Ellis

## Synopsis

Several months after finding the body of Cony N. Webber, defendant is charged with murder. Defendant admits being with victim that night but reports that victim was alive and well when he last saw him.

## Other Case References

* In Kissner v. Polk Hospital, Robin Kaplan's CV contains a publication titled, "The Strange Case of State v. Ellis." A clear reference to this case.

## Trivia

* According to a newsletter from the University of North Florida, this case was based on an actual criminal case, wherein the reports and exhibits were authentic while some of the details were fictionalized.
Roger "Roge" Holman

**Roger Holman** is a professional mountain guide and owner of The Everest Experience. Holman founded the Everest Experience in 1994 and has personally climbed Mount Everest eight times.

In *Gilbertson v. The Everest Experience,* Roger is the Party Representative for the Defense on behalf of The Everest Experience.

## Relationships

**P.J. Gilbertson:** Client

**Barlett Baker:** Client

**Billi Johnson:** Competitor

**Jan Darma Sherpa:** Employee

**Bobbie Whittacker:** Employee

**Gene/Jean Schneider:** Former Employee
Greer Grace

**Greer Grace**, who also goes by Greer Smith when protecting their identity, is the child of famous actor Alex Grace.

## Relationships

**Alex Grace:** Parent

**Jackie Owens:** Step-parent

**Jerri Anderson:** Ex-date, former college friend

## Details

Not much is known about Greer Grace at this time. Though it is yet to be established for certain, Grace is likely not the biological child of Jackie Owens, since Owens and Alex Grace wouldn't have even met each other before Greer Grace was born. Grace attended Midlands State University under the last name Smith for sake of anonymity, and dated fellow student Jerri Anderson during the latter's senior year. It is unconfirmed whether Grace graduated in 2017 alongside Anderson or not. Currently, Grace is starring in the new hit TV show "Going Down with the Graces."
Carmen Bell-Leon

**Carmen Bell-Leon** is the spouse of Kerry Bell-Leon and parent of Bailey Bell-Leon, as well as the lover of Dylan Hendricks. According to Morgan Jones, Bell-Leon is "a pretty flirtatious and affectionate person."

After the affair with Hendricks, Carmen Bell-Leon left the country for Ecuador to visit family, and has not been heard from since, including during when spouse Kerry was attacked. Police have charged Carmen as a co-conspirator in the attempt to murder Kerry, but efforts to extradite Carmen Bell-Leon from Ecuador have failed thus far.

## Relationships

**Kerry Bell-Leon:** Spouse

**Bailey Bell-Leon:** Child

**Dylan Hendricks:** Paramour

**Paris Harmon:** Former love interest

**Jesse Reynolds:** Former love interest

## Trivia

* On the dating app Tender, Carmen Bell-Leon uses Carmen's unmarried name, Carmen Leon.
* Bell-Leon is originally from Tierras Medias, Ecuador.
* According to Bailey, Bell-Leon is a horrible cook.
Robin Skye v. Aubrey Gold (NCT)

## Synopsis

On February 14th 2012, Robin Skye's spouse, Quinn Skye, was murdered by a burglar named Rolly Tomasi. Skye was wrongfully convicted of the murder of their spouse that same year. After being exonerated in 2022, Robin Skye now sues their defense attorney, Aubrey Gold, for legal malpractice.

## Witnesses

### Plaintiff

* Robin Skye
* Jamie Young
* Kensington Kwan

### Defense

* Aubrey Gold
* Brooklyn Singh
* Sage Reyes

### Swing

* Frankie Fernandez
* Morgan Carter

## Other Persons of Interest

* Quinn Skye
* Rolly Tomasi
* Alex Wooden
Court Cases

The following is a comprehensive list of all the Midlands court cases for which there are records, organized in order of earliest to most recent.

## 1990s

### 1998-1999

* The Estate of Staci Griswald v. United Gauges of America

## 2000s

### 2000-2001

* P.J. Gilbertson v. The Everest Experience

### 2006-2007

* Sean and Leigh Jeffries v. Polk County Police Department

## 2010s

### 2012-2013

* Lee and Andy Allen v. Neptune Underwater Expeditions

### 2014-2015

* Andy and Lee Park v. Hayden Duran
* Elizabeth Ginger v. Max Heisman (NCT)

### 2015-2016

* State of Midlands v. Avery Bancroft and Chase Covington
* State of Midlands v. Skyler Sinclair (NCT)

### 2016-2017

* Riley Winter v. TBD, Inc.
* Alex Taylor v. Trifecta Entertainment (NCT)

### 2017-2018

* State of Midlands v. Dylan Hendricks
* United States v. Parker Barrow (NCT)

### 2018-2019

* Midlands Television Studios v. Danny Kosack
* Empowermilk, Inc. v. Jerri Anderson (NCT)

### 2019-2020

* State of Midlands v. Jordan Ryder
* Stevie Rogers v. Drew Mars (OLT)

## 2020s

### 2020-2021

* Estate of Petrillo v. Martini and Peony Estates
* Tray Westenmeier v. Kiran Walton (NCT)
* Sana Yoshida v. Woodward High School (OLT)

### 2021-2022

* State of Midlands v. Dakota Sutcliffe
* State of Midlands v. Jean Riggs (NCT)
* Chase Arensman v. Scanlon Screening (Rookie Rumble)

### 2022-2023

* Ari Felder v. Koller Campbell Air, LLC
* Robin Skye v. Aubrey Gold (NCT)
* State of Midlands v. Kendall Whitley (Rookie Rumble)

### 2023-2024

* State of Midlands v. B.F. De La Porta and Poe Cameron
Bailey Bell-Leon

Emoji used by AMTA to represent Bailey

**Bailey Bell-Leon** is the teenage child of Kerry and Carmen Bell-Leon. Bailey is known for being very clearly oblivious, with a slight flair for the dramatic, and very adamantly does not like Dylan Hendricks on account of the affair.

Though technically subpoenaed as a swing witness in *State v. Hendricks*, Bailey's testimony is overwhelmingly more helpful to the prosecution. Namely, Bailey witnessed several interactions between Hendricks and Carmen Bell-Leon, Hendricks handling Kerry Bell-Leon's gun, and parts of the attempted murder itself.

## Relationships

**Kerry Bell-Leon:** Parent

**Carmen Bell-Leon:** Parent

**Morgan Jones:** Former babysitter

**Sawyer:** Best friend

**Linda:** Piano teacher

## Trivia

* When talking about Bailey's knowledge of gun safety, Bailey mentions that everyone in Bailey's school district has had to sit through many gun safety presentations ever since a girl in the district, Sydney, was killed while playing with her neighbor's gun. Bailey is of course referring to Sydney Park and Jesse Duran, respectively, the victim and the defendant's child from the 2014-15 case *Park v. Duran*.
Midlands, USA Wiki

## Welcome to Midlands

Welcome to the (*unofficial*) wiki for the fictional state of Midlands, USA! This wiki is intended for anyone who's participated in AMTA college mock trial, and wants to know more about Midlands lore outside of the cases you got to experience yourself. Here you can find and share all kinds of information on past cases and all the characters and drama involved. If you want to join the community, sign up for a free account and start sharing!

*NOTE:* Please read the FAQ and Rules page, linked in the "Quick Links" section directly below, before you start posting content.

* Court Cases
* FAQ (and rules!)
Jameson Clark

**Jameson Clark** is a talent booker for Alex Grace at Midlands Television Studios, formerly for the program *Midlands After Dark with Alex Grace*. Clark's job is to scout social media for guests to bring on the air, schedule appearances, correspond with said guests, and make sure the studio accommodates their needs.

Although Clark wasn't present at the studio the day of the incident, Clark's testimony is pertinent to the plaintiff of *MTS v. Kosack* for covering all the logistical events that occurred at the studio in the month leading up to June 29, 2017.

## Relationships

**Taylor Clark:** Spouse

**Alex Grace:** Boss

**Ashley Thornhill:** Former coworker

**Chris Villafana:** Former coworker

**Tony Gomes:** Coworker

## Trivia

* Clark's two pet cats Meredith and Olivia are named after real-life actress Taylor Swift's pet cats.
	+ Thus it is likely that Clark's spouse is likewise named after Taylor Swift
State of Midlands v. Jean Riggs

## Synopsis

Casey Bartholomew, a long-tenured lab technician, was found deceased due to an apparent drug overdose, in the forensics laboratory, using drugs from the lab. Over the next few months, investigators uncovered a scheme whereby state employees were skimming money and drugs seized in criminal investigations and mis-entering information about the seizures on lab slips. Defendant Officer Jean Riggs is now implicated in that scheme and charged with the felonies of falsifying state records and theft of state property.

## Witnesses

### Prosecution

* Reese Butters
* Jay Murtaugh
* Courtney Rudd
* Peyton Travis

### Defense

* Rae Cole
* Ali Getz
* Jordan Joshua
* Jean Riggs
Hunter Cooper

**Hunter Cooper** is a wannabe screenwriter who is obsessed with Alex Grace. When not working odd jobs or working on a script, Cooper conducts "research" on Grace's career and personal life, in spite of a restraining order meant to prevent Cooper from doing so.

Cooper can be called by either the plaintiff or the defense in *MTS v. Kosack*, as Cooper was one of the direct witnesses to the events surrounding the chimpanzee attack.

## Relationships

**Alex Grace:** Idol, Favorite Actor

**Thor:** Pet dog

## Trivia

* In Hunter Cooper's affidavit, Cooper mentions a screenplay that Cooper drafted, about "a shady deal between a casino owner and a corrupt government official." This is a direct reference to the incidents surrounding State v. Bancroft and Covington.
* Cooper took pictures of Chris Villafana's dead body to sell them.
Bobbie Lin

**Bobbie Lin** has worked at TBD for an unknown number of years, but has been Sawyer Shaw's personal secretary at TBD since Shaw bought the company on January 1, 2014. Lin's job is to read and write emails for Shaw, set up conference calls, organize meetings and committees, and otherwise do whatever Shaw needs done.

Unofficially, Lin also listens in on several of Shaw's phone and office conversations, and over the course of 2014 and 2015, these included several conversations related to hirings and firings at TBD, including Winter's. This, and Lin's observations of Winter in the workplace, is why Lin is sympathetic towards Winter's cause, and voluntarily testified for the plaintiff.

## Relationships

**Sawyer Shaw:** Boss

**Riley Winter:** Coworker

**Skye Martin:** Coworker

**Taylor Erick:** Coworker

**Austin Perez:** Coworker

**Landon Greene:** Coworker

## Trivia

* Bobbie Lin is only Shaw's secretary at TBD, and has no connections to Shaw's other companies.
Taylor Erick

**Taylor Erick** is the head of the business team at TBD, Inc.. He's the main person in charge of determining which companies advertise on the TBD website, and he also helps provide company updates to Sawyer Shaw regarding weekly web traffic numbers, advertising figures, and requests to hire or fire employees.

Regarding the last point, Erick is always included in conference calls with Shaw, Austin Perez, and Skye Martin about hiring and firing decisions, and Shaw often defers to him and Perez and Martin to make the final decision (although this was not the case for Riley Winter, as none of the three were notified via conference call). Reportedly, Erick once told Shaw sometime in 2015 that Winter's articles were generating "below-average" web traffic.

## Relationships

* **Sawyer Shaw:** Boss
* **Austin Perez:** Colleague
* **Skye Martin:** Colleague
* **Riley Winter:** Co-worker
* **Kirby Doolittle:** Intern
Midlands

**Midlands** is a U.S. state. There is no geographic location for Midlands.

## Counties and Towns

* Fairfax County
	+ Evanston
	+ Freeport
	+ Cedarburg
	+ Villa Park
* (no county available)
	+ Park City
* Polk County
	+ Midlands City
* Thenady County
* Truman County
	+ Truman (city)
* Rapid River County
	+ Rapid River Valley
* Breckenridge County
	+ Midlands Center
* Charlotte County
	+ Santa Ivo City

## Legal System

Midlands has a court in each county, and cases are brought to county courts. There are no state courts in Midlands. There is also a federal district court, the Middle District of Midlands.

In criminal cases, the state of Midlands is the prosecution, not the counties. The U.S. federal government can also prosecute in federal district court through the United States Attorney’s Office.

In civil cases, individuals, groups of people, or corporations can file lawsuits.

There are multiple documents guiding the Midlands legal system including:

* U.S. Constitution
	+ The 5th amendment right against self-incrimination does not apply as witnesses are compelled to testify, and attorneys may not instruct a witness not to answer a question.
	+ Constitutional issues are usually resolved before trial, and attorneys can not object based on constitutional issues.
* U.S. Code
* Midlands Rules of Criminal Procedure
* Midlands Penal Code
* Midlands Rules of Evidence

## Law Enforcement

Midlands has various law enforcement agencies operating in the state.

* Federal Bureau of Investigation
* Midlands State Police Department/Midlands State Highway Patrol
	+ Midlands State Police Academy (training academy only)
* Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department
* Polk County Police Department
* Midlands City Police Department
	+ Vice and Narcotics Unit
	+ Homicide Unit
	+ White Collar Crime Unit

## Trivia

* According to the Expert Report of Homayoon Madani (Empowermilk v. Anderson), it is canon that Midlands only has 1 major crime occur every two years (which results in the bi-yearly criminal case). "Midlands was home to many high-profile cases, the fact it only seems to have a major crime once every two years was appealing."
A.J. McClellan

**A.J. McClellan (stage name Avery Anderson)** is an actor in the state of Midlands, well known for all kinds of roles: stage, screen, leading, and supporting. Until its cancellation, McClellan was a frequent guest on *Midlands After Dark with Alex Grace*.

McClellan was on set before and during the attack on June 29, 2017, therefore witnessing the whole thing. McClellan also happened to speak extensively with Chris Villafana before the attack. For both of these reasons, McClellan can testify for either the plaintiff or the defense.

## Relationships

**Morgan Rakelin:** Talent Agent

**Alex Grace:** Friend, client of same talent agency

**Chris Villafana:** Former contact/acquaintance