Robert M. Worster III, Nathan Olson, Adele M. Garmirian, and Kristen L. Kugel all participated as Judges in the Eighth Annual John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition hosted by George Mason University School of Law Trial Advocacy Association at the Fairfax County Courthouse. Twenty-three different law schools from across the country sent students to compete in the Costello Competition. The Costello Competition was created by Judge Jonathan Thacher to replicate real-life scenarios students may face once they graduate and enter the practice of law. This year the fact pattern was based on the 1977 case of Francine Hughes – who was charged with murder after killing her husband by lighting fire to their home while he was inside. Ms. Hughes was ultimately found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Ms. Hughes suffered years of abuse at the hand of her husband and it is believed the people listening to Ms. Hughes’s case were sympathetic to her cause considering the circumstances Ms. Hughes lived through. The George Mason Trial Advocacy Association designed this problem to replicate the above scenario and force the students to deal with a case where law and sympathy diverge.
