PAID ACTING GIG - MOCK TRIAL SPRING 2022!
Use your acting and improvisational skills, have fun, help students
and get paid at the same time!
RIVERWALK THEATRE and the MSU College of Law are looking for actors who are interested in playing the defendant, and witnesses in mock civil trials for the MSU College of Law Trial Practice Institute. There are 4 trials, all using the same case study over 2 days. We are looking for a total of 16 actors --2 actors to play the defendant and 14 other actors to play the witnesses. Each character will appear in 2 trials. A $250 stipend will be paid for participation in this project.*
All actors must be vaccinated for Covid 19.
This semester’s case is a criminal case - State v. Baker. Summary: Sarah Baker, the daughter of a billionaire international arms dealer, has been charged with the first-degree murder of her husband, Kelly Baker, a well-known Nita City television news anchor at station KNTA-TV. On September 7, 2012, Sarah Baker shot her husband Kelly Baker in the kitchen of their large estate known as Ashgate Farm near Warrenton, Nita. Kelly Baker was found lying facedown on the floor. In her statement to the sheriff’s investigator, Sarah Baker said her husband had accused her of having a romantic relationship with Bradley McCormick, the chief deputy district attorney of Darrow County. She said that on the morning of September 7 she was in the kitchen just after 8:00 a.m. when her husband entered the kitchen and brandished a semiautomatic pistol and said that he was going to kill her for being unfaithful. She was able to convince him to put the gun on the table. Sarah Baker then said that she grabbed the gun to protect herself, and as soon as she did, Kelly Baker then grabbed a kitchen knife, screamed obscenities, and advanced toward her, threatening to kill her. She said he slashed her left arm with the knife. As he came after her, she fired to protect herself, shooting him four times. The State contends that Sarah Baker intended to divorce Kelly Baker and to cut him out of her will, and Kelly Baker told her he would bring legal action to seek a large portion of her estate. For that reason, the State claims, Sarah Baker decided to kill Kelly Baker and then attempted to cover up her crime by slashing her own left arm and planting a knife in Kelly Baker’s hand.
There are two Trial Practice classes this Spring. Each class will be organized into two trials, for a total of 4 trials. Actors, need to be available for two trials, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Actors would need to be available on all of the following dates:
WITNESSES
FOR THE PROSECUTION:
Kit Manville (Male, 30-50) – Former employee of Ashgate Farms who overheard Sarah Baker talking on the telephone with her lawyer about cutting her husband out of her will.
Detective Lee Holmes (Male or Female, 30 – 60) – Member of NITA City police who investigated the incident.
Dr. Morgan Sain (Male or Female, 40-60) – NITA City Coroner
Dale Ryan (Male or Female, 40-60) – Forensic Scientist, Expert Witness
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
Sarah Baker, Defendant (Female, 30-40) *The stipend for the defendant is $300 since she stays for the entire trial.
Dr. Leslie Torgeson (Male or Female, 40-60) – Forensic Scientist, Expert Witness
Bradley McCormick (Male, 30-40) - Chief Deputy District Attorney of Darrow County. Worked with Sarah Baker.
Chris Spahn (Male or Female, 40-60) – Manager of Ashgate Farms
If interested, please contact Tom Ferris at tjferris49@gmail.com by Friday, February 11.
Please include a brief resume and headshot.
All actors must be vaccinated for Covid 19.
This semester’s case is a criminal case - State v. Baker. Summary: Sarah Baker, the daughter of a billionaire international arms dealer, has been charged with the first-degree murder of her husband, Kelly Baker, a well-known Nita City television news anchor at station KNTA-TV. On September 7, 2012, Sarah Baker shot her husband Kelly Baker in the kitchen of their large estate known as Ashgate Farm near Warrenton, Nita. Kelly Baker was found lying facedown on the floor. In her statement to the sheriff’s investigator, Sarah Baker said her husband had accused her of having a romantic relationship with Bradley McCormick, the chief deputy district attorney of Darrow County. She said that on the morning of September 7 she was in the kitchen just after 8:00 a.m. when her husband entered the kitchen and brandished a semiautomatic pistol and said that he was going to kill her for being unfaithful. She was able to convince him to put the gun on the table. Sarah Baker then said that she grabbed the gun to protect herself, and as soon as she did, Kelly Baker then grabbed a kitchen knife, screamed obscenities, and advanced toward her, threatening to kill her. She said he slashed her left arm with the knife. As he came after her, she fired to protect herself, shooting him four times. The State contends that Sarah Baker intended to divorce Kelly Baker and to cut him out of her will, and Kelly Baker told her he would bring legal action to seek a large portion of her estate. For that reason, the State claims, Sarah Baker decided to kill Kelly Baker and then attempted to cover up her crime by slashing her own left arm and planting a knife in Kelly Baker’s hand.
There are two Trial Practice classes this Spring. Each class will be organized into two trials, for a total of 4 trials. Actors, need to be available for two trials, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Actors would need to be available on all of the following dates:
- Saturday, March 5, 9-11 am for an orientation and coaching session with the class professors.
- Saturday, March 19, 10am – 2pm, for Zoom interviews with the student lawyers. (Additional interviews may be mutually arranged by witnesses and the legal teams in the weeks before up to the trials.)
- Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24, 8am – 4pm for the trials (Trials may be in person or virtual depending on MSU safety protocols in April.)
WITNESSES
FOR THE PROSECUTION:
Kit Manville (Male, 30-50) – Former employee of Ashgate Farms who overheard Sarah Baker talking on the telephone with her lawyer about cutting her husband out of her will.
Detective Lee Holmes (Male or Female, 30 – 60) – Member of NITA City police who investigated the incident.
Dr. Morgan Sain (Male or Female, 40-60) – NITA City Coroner
Dale Ryan (Male or Female, 40-60) – Forensic Scientist, Expert Witness
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
Sarah Baker, Defendant (Female, 30-40) *The stipend for the defendant is $300 since she stays for the entire trial.
Dr. Leslie Torgeson (Male or Female, 40-60) – Forensic Scientist, Expert Witness
Bradley McCormick (Male, 30-40) - Chief Deputy District Attorney of Darrow County. Worked with Sarah Baker.
Chris Spahn (Male or Female, 40-60) – Manager of Ashgate Farms
If interested, please contact Tom Ferris at tjferris49@gmail.com by Friday, February 11.
Please include a brief resume and headshot.
