On November 12, the School of Public Affairs’ Mock Trial Team competed in Washington, D.C. at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse in the Great American Mock Trial Invitational (GAMTI). The tournament, one of the most prestigious in the country, invites only the top 24 teams.

“For context, winning this tournament is akin winning the Kentucky Derby if you race horses, or Wimbledon if you play tennis,” said Don Martin, head coach of the Mock Trial team and adjunct professor for the School of Public Affairs.

The SPA Mock Trial team won the tournament in a field of mock trial powerhouses, including Yale, Columbia, Cal-Berkeley, New York University, Cornell, Northwestern, and others. To win, SPA defeated teams from Duke, University of Virginia, Georgia, and Rhodes. Anna Mehrabyan SPA/BA’18, won an outstanding witness award. Meanwhile, Jenna Forster SPA/BA’17 was the highest ranked attorney in the whole tournament.

Last year the Mock Trial team finished in third place nationwide, out of more than 660 teams.

This year’s winning team includes the following:
Jenna Forster (captain)
Billy Czerwinski (captain)
Jessica Cianci
Zach Binder
Anna Mizzi
Anna Mehrabya
Lorrin Melanson
T. Albert Fujii
Ashwini Velchamy
Don Martin (head coach)
Mike Woeste and Kierra Zoellick (assistant coaches)

To learn more about SPA’s Mock Trial team, visit: http://www.american.edu/spa/mock-trial/.