DU-Lawyer Summer 2014-FINAL[1]

STUDENT BRIEFS“I believe his parents really took the initiative to get thestory out, including using social media and African-Americanjournalists,” said McCants Lewis. Ultimately the mainstreammedia picked up the story, and “that coverage then put the standyour ground law into the media spotlight,” she said.Bellido de Luna said that race was certainly a factor in thetrial, most prominently in the cross examination of Martin’sfriend Rachel Jeantel, who Bellido de Luna said is a “sweet,intelligent, capable woman,” who was made to look uneducatedand ignorant because of the way she spoke and dressed.McCants Lewis pointed out that there were culturaldifferences between the jury and Jeantel, which the prosecutionfailed to bring to the jury’s attention—for instance—that Englishwas not Jeantel’s native tongue.“The defense didn’t come out and necessarily throw (race)in your face, but it was there,” said McCants Lewis.The panel agreed that the prosecution failed to effectivelymake its case because it didn’t prepare its witnesses, consistentlycontradicted itself and seriously fumbled its closing argument.“I was a prosecutor for a long time, and this was the worstthing I’d ever seen,” said Birdsong.Eric S. Donato, L’14, is the 2013-2014 executive editor ofJuris Magazine. This article was originally published onwww.jurismagazine.com.Women’s Law AssociationFrom left: Angela Reed Strathman, Lori Love, Christina Horton Duty, Madison Taylor, Nicola Henry-Taylor, Biannely Diaz, Ashley Wilkinson.On April 2, Duquesne University School of Law and theWomen’s Law Association celebrated its 22nd annual Woman ofthe Year event.This year’s event, held at The Common Plea, was the mostwell-attended in the history of Woman of the Year Awardsceremonies, which was no surprise, as our awardees were twoaccomplished and outstanding women. Receiving the RecentGraduate Award was Christina Horton Duty. Duty, a 2010graduate, was an extremely active student during her time atDuquesne Law School and continued on a path of success aftergraduation, working as an associate at Burns White and currentlyat Highmark.This year’s Woman of the Year Award was given to NicolaHenry-Taylor, a 1996 law graduate. Henry-Taylor successfullyruns her own private practice, which focuses mostly oncriminal and family law. She participates in many communityorganizations and is the current chair of the Allegheny CountyBar Association’s Women in the Law Division. Her hard work andtenacity have allowed her to rise up through the ranks of wellknownattorneys in the Pittsburgh legal community, and, at sucha young age, her accomplishments made her a wonderful anddeserving awardee for the Woman of the Year Award.Both awardees not only humbly expressed their gratitudein receiving their respective awards, but also took the time tooffer words of advice and encouragement to the young lawyersand law students in attendance. Duquesne University School ofLaw is very proud and much honored to have the opportunity tocelebrate the accomplishments these two outstanding women.34 THE DUQUESNE LAWYER