A West Virginia University law student and West Virginia State Trooper from Charles Town, W.Va.Monte Lee Williamshas won this years prestigious Bakers Cup Competition for successfully arguing a case before the West Virginia State Supreme Court.

The justices, on their annual hiatus from Charleston, presided over the competition at the WVU College of Law today (Tuesday, March 12).

Williams, a second-year law student and Jacqui Crum-Sikora, a third-year law student from Morgantown, competed in the mock trial titled Katherine Baptista vs. the Commonwealth of Wythe.

In the case, Baptista sued the Wythe State Law School on the grounds that her civil rights were violated when the schoolupholding an affirmative action policy giving preference to ethnic and African American applicantsdenied her admission.

Williams successfully argued that Baptistas denial to the law school violated her rights under the 14th amendment specifying equal protection under the law.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Williams came to the University in 1988 as a member of the Mountaineer football team, playing wide receiver.

He earned an undergraduate degree in political science in 1992 and a masters degree in the same field in 1996, both from WVU .

Williams became a state trooper in 1994, serving primarily in Jefferson County. He currently works as a trooper in Monongalia County while he completes his degree. Last summer, he was an intern at Steptoe&Johnson, and he will return there for a second summer at the conclusion of the spring semester.

In honor of his achievement, Williamsname will be engraved on the law schools Baker Cup trophy. He also will receive $500 and a plaque.

Runner-up Jacqui Crum-Sikora is a 1998 graduate of the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism. Prior to attending law school, she worked at WBOY -TV in Clarksburg. Originally from Ripley, Crum-Sikora now lives in Morgantown with her husband Sean and one-year-old daughter Rebekah.

Crum-Sikora will receive $350 and a plaque as runner-up in the competition.

Presiding over todays case were Chief Justice Robin Davis, Justice Joseph Albright,

Justice Warren McGraw and Justice Larry Starcher. Justice Elliot Maynard was absent.

The Baker Cup Endowment was established in 1980 to acknowledge second-year law students for outstanding legal expertise. It was created by the daughters of Judge George Coleman Baker, a distinguished Morgantown lawyer and 1886 law school graduate.