Rice Mock Trial

Class of 2020

Aryan Sefidi

One of the og members of RUMT, Aryan Sefidi has been with RUMT since its founding in 2017. He mainly attorneyed, earning an attorney award during the 2019 RiceBowl tournament. During his last season (2019-2020), Aryan— unofficial dad of Team Gyro— mentored a team of mostly new members and led the team to (bid-earning) victory during Houston Regionals and ORCs in Santa Monica where they competed against top-tier West Coast mock trial programs. A Philosophy and Electrical Engineering double major, Aryan currently works for Microsoft. This website is also his brainchild.

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Blaine Schmidt

Strutting into the courtroom from the witness side of the mock trial spectrum is Blaine Schmidt: former Computational and Applied Mathematics major, and present student at Berkeley Law. In the 2018-2019 competition season, Blaine earned a witness award at the Dallas regionals as British self-help guru AJ McClellan, and another at the Memphis ORCS as talent agent and part-time model Jamie Clark. The next year, he again witnessed on both sides: on the prosecution as the elegantly ruthless Corbin Dallas, and on the defense as happy-go-lucky hillbilly Armani Rodriguez. While the 2019-2020 AMTA season was unfortunately cut short, Blaine finished his undergraduate mock trial experience captaining (and winning regionals with) the Rice B team, to whom he owes many of his best senior year memories.

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Eli Mensing

Eli Mensing joined Rice Mock Trial in 2018 and competed both as a witness and attorney. He won an attorney award during the 2019 RiceBowl regionals and captained a team during his senior year. After graduating from Rice, Eli will be working at the Harris County Public Defender’s Office through Partners for Justice.

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J Lee

J “Jay” Lee joined Rice Mock Trial in 2018 and served on the E-Board as Team Analyst for the 2019-2020 year. He has competed as an attorney and a witness both years he has been on the team. In 2019, he won an outstanding witness award at the Houston Regional Tournament. J graduated with a degree in Mathematical Economic Analysis and is planning to attend Harvard Law School in the fall of 2022. Outside of mock trial, you can usually find J petting every dog he sees, watching cooking videos, biking, or taking his fourth nap of the day.

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Jonathan Parts

Jonathan Parts was a witness-turned attorney who was with RUMT for its first three seasons. A specialist in wacky case theories and heavy rhetoric, Jon served as captain for his last two years at Rice. He is currently soul-searching for a way to fill the hole in his heart that mock trial has left.

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Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell has been a part of the Rice Mock Trial program since its founding in 2017 and served as its president during the 2019-2020 season. After graduating from Rice, Michael will be attending the Duke Divinity School. Also, he got married.

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Sophie Hennings

Sophie Hennings has been a team member of Rice Mock Trial since its foundation, and served on the Executive Board from 2018-2019. She competed in both Regional and Open Round Championship tournaments, primarily working in witness roles. Outside of Mock Trial, she double majored in Cognitive Science and Political Science, and has a fondness for 2% milk and her cat, Athena.

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Class of 2019

Alberto Tohme

Alberto Tohme co-founded Rice Mock Trial in 2017 and served as its first President for the 2018-2019 season. A versatile competitor, he led Rice Mock Trial to an ORCS appearance in its first year. At ORCS he competed on both sides, winning a witness award for his portrayal of Expert Witness Ryan Reeves on the defense and serving as an attorney for the prosecution. A Philosophy and Political Science double major, Alberto currently studies at the The University of Chicago Law School.

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