DEFENSE ATTORNEY FRANKLIN: Your honor, the defense calls Charlie Steinhice. (much chattering in courtroom) JUDGE: (pounds gavel) Silence! This court will not tolerate courting in the chatroom. (bailiff whispers in to judge's ear) JUDGE: Er, chattering in the courtroom. PROSECUTOR WEINER: Objection, your honor. Mr. Steinhice was not listed as an expert witness by the defense. FRANKLIN: Your honor, Mr. Steinhice is not here to debate the merits of trash vs. academic quizbowl. He has specific factual information that relates specifically to the case against my client. JUDGE: Objection overruled. (bailiff swears in the witness) FRANKLIN: Mr. Steinhice, could you tell the jury your position in quizbowl: STEINHICE: Yes, I'm the coach of the quizbowl team at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. FRANKLIN: Earlier today you posted an announcement of a summer academic tournament at UTC. Is that correct? STEINHICE: Yes. FRANKLIN: Could you describe the tournament? STEINHICE: Yes. We'll be hosting a delayed mirror tournament using questions from NAQT's high school national championship. FRANKLIN: And is this the first such tournament UTC has hosted? STEINHICE: No, sir, we held one last year as well. FRANKLIN: But these questions are not exactly hardcore academic by college standards, are they? STEINHICE: No, but they are undeniably academic. Besides, we already host another college-level academic open tournament every August and plan to do so again this year. FRANKLIN: What is this tournament, and how many years has it run? STEINHICE: We call it Moc Masters, and this will be its fourth year. WEINER: Objection, your honor. I fail to see where this has any bearing on the charges against the Georgia team. FRANKLIN: Your honor, we're getting there. JUDGE: Then do so quickly, counselor. FRANKLIN: Mr. Steinhice, was there anything different about your arrangements with NAQT for this summer's tournament? STEINHICE: Yes, there was. Shortly after we agreed in principle, NAQT contacted me about another request they'd received from a school wanting to mirror the same questions. They were concerned that the other location might be too close and the pool of potential teams too small to sustain two such tournaments. I agreed, and they said they would deny the other school's request on those grounds. I then contacted a representative from the other school and discussed it directly, and we have left the question open as to which school might host the NAQT mirror in 2005. FRANKLIN: Could you please tell me what school that was, and with whom you spoke? STEINHICE: The school was the University of Georgia, and my contact was Robin Richards. FRANKLIN: So just to recap, Georgia's first intention was to host an academic tournament in June 2004? STEINHICE: Yes, and they would probably then have done as we will and hosted a trash tournament the same weekend. FRANKLIN: Did Mr. Richards discuss alternative plans when you spoke with him? STEINHICE: Yes. He said that if they couldn't mirror the NAQT set, then rather than try to write or edit two tournaments for a single weekend, he thought they'd try one hybrid tournament encompassing both types of subject matter. FRANKLIN: But that was not his first choice. Is that correct? STEINHICE: That is correct. Robin's first choice was to have an academic tournament. FRANKLIN: Thank you. No further questions, your honor. STEINHICE: (to judge) Your honor, may I request an indulgence? JUDGE: Pray tell, what? STEINHICE: I'd like the transcript of my testimony read back to me by Mr. Franklin, in his Jimmy Stewart voice. He does the best Jimmy Stewart... JUDGE: Overruled. Your witness, Mr. Weiner.
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