Leflar and Waldrip Capture Spring Moot Court Title

The 2009 Ben J. Altheimer Spring Moot Court Competition final round was held Friday, March 27 in the E.J. Ball Courtroom. Samantha Leflar and Allison Waldrip were named the winners after arguing on behalf of the respondent. Finalists Ashley Driver and David Mitchell argued on behalf of the petitioner.

The Best Brief award went to Leflar and Waldrip as well, and the judges named Waldrip as Best Oralist. The finals were judged by Justice Paul Danielson of the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Honorable Brian Miller of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and the Honorable Courtney Henry of the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Semifinalist teams in the competition were Remington Fang and Phuc Nguyen, as well as Ali Sadiqi and Steve Talley. Teams that made it to the quarterfinals were Wes Duncan and Taylor Mattson, Brian Gaither and Cyrus Malekabadi, Mary Grigsby and Ashley Tomlinson, and Kristi Hunter and Robbie Jones.

The competitors argued the case of United States v. Tom Hagen. Mr. Hagen was convicted of the armed robbery of a bank, and the first issue on appeal concerned the sentencing enhancement imposed based on the discharge of his firearm during the robbery. The second issue on appeal concerned the petitioner’s peremptory challenge against seating of the juror foreperson. The competition was organized by Traci Graham and Brooke Hollis of the Board of Advocates.

Contact:

Andy Albertson, director of communications
School of Law
(479) 575-6111, aalbert@uark.edu