WASHINGTON (March 22, 2011) – The Howard University Mock Trial team will compete in final round of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship competition in Des Moines, Iowa, April 15-17. For the first time in eight years, the Howard University Mock Trial Team has received a bid to the AMTA final championship round.

The team travelled to Irvine, Calif. to compete amongst 24 teams and won one of six bids offered from the competition. Several members of the Howard team won individual awards for outstanding performance. Yosef Wise won an individual award for his role as an attorney. Shakei Haynes and Daniel Cokes won individual witness awards.The team also won the prestigious Spirit of AMTA Award, which is voted on by the teams attending the

competition and awards the team that displayed excellence in sportsmanship, friendliness and the overall spirit of healthy competition which AMTA promotes.

“We are humbled by the opportunity to compete against the top teams in the nation, while representing Howard,” said Marquis H. Barnett, president of the Mock Trial team. “We know that we stand on a great legacy.”

The AMTA was founded in 1985 by Dean Richard Calkins of Drake Law School. AMTA serves as the governing body for intercollegiate mock trial competition. The Howard University Mock Trial team was the first team in the history of the AMTA to win two national championship tournaments in the same year and is the only HBCU team ever to win a national championship in Mock Trial.