Items in italics are mandatory as they are abstracted from the rules. I. Attorneys may use notes at any time during the round. However, they are encouraged to give their opening statements without notes and to minimize the use of notes at other times. During the questioning of witnesses, attorneys may confer with co-counsel but the time taken to do so counts against their allotment. AMTA cases are chosen so as to eliminate gender as an issue in the selection of students to play the part of witnesses.
All witness statements are to be treated as sworn, signed statements .
There is normally a passage of time between a statement being given and an actual trial taking place. However, for AMTA competition, it is assumed that no material changes have taken place since the signing of the witnesses statements . The defendant s attorney may not reserve the opening statement, but must give it immediately following the opening statement from the other side and an introduction of colleagues and self. The student attorneys on each team call and conduct a direct examination of each of three witnesses and introduce such other evidence as is necessary to prove their case. Through cross-examination, inconsistency in stories, bias of the witness, invention of fact, and other damaging items are brought to the attention of the Court.