Office of the Corporation Counsel, D.C. Government Contact: Henning Vent Senior Counsel, Family Division Office of the Corporation Counsel, D.C. Government 441 4th Street N.W. 6N72 Washington DC 20001 E-mail: henning.vent@dc.gov Mock Trial Activity Summary: The significance of this mock trial was to involve and educate junior high school students in a relatively underprivileged neighborhood in learning about how courts work, and the roles that attorneys, judges, and court workers play. It gave young people a chance to have fun, while introducing them in a beneficial and non-adversarial way with the courts and the D.C. juvenile authorities. Activity Narrative: During the 2000-2001 school year, members of the D.C. Corporation Counsel worked with students of Terrell Junior High School to put on a mock trial in the case of District of Columbia v. Gold E. Locks, in which Defendant Locks was tried criminally for breaking and entering, trespass, injury to personal property and misdemeanor larceny. Students played the roles of judge, attorneys, witnesses, court personnel and jurors. The Honorable John M. Ferren, Senior Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals assisted the student judge and literally lent her his robe. The program introduced the students both to the judicial process and to the American legal system as a whole. It also served as a springboard for lessons by the students’ social studies and reading teachers. The program began with a two-hour orientation session held at Terrell Junior High School on May 1, 2001. A group of four Corporation Counsel attorneys introduced the program, then gave a series of presentations on the following topics: overview of the American legal system; criminal law versus civil law; criminal procedure; anatomy of a criminal trial and definitions of key terms. The session, which was attended by roughly 35 students, ended with the students choosing roles for the trial and receiving their scripts. The roles included the parts of the judge, the prosecuting and defense attorneys, Mom A. Bear, Pop A. Bear, Boy Bear and Gold E. Locks, as well as the parts of Courtroom Clerk, Bailiffs and Marshals. The rest of the students were designated as jurors. There were enough jurors to make up two separate juries. Following the orientation session, Corporation Counsel attorneys held two practice sessions, one at Terrell Junior High School and one in the courtroom that would be used for the trial. The ACCs worked one-on-one with the students who had speaking parts, helping them rehearse their lines and learn their way around the courtroom. The ACCs also worked with the two juries, taking them through the elements of each crime and explaining the deliberation process. The trial itself took place on May 17, 2001 in Courtroom 48 (Building A) of the District of Columbia Superior Court. The prosecuting and defense attorneys delivered their lines with aplomb, and showed real creativity in the cross-examinations, redirects and closing arguments - the portions of the trial that were not scripted. The Prosecution, for instance, had both Gold E. Locks and Papa Bear stand up so the jury could see that Gold E. Locks was actually bigger than Papa Bear and so would have no reason to flee the house in terror, as she had claimed in direct. The witnesses played their parts to the hilt, Boy Bear expressing surprise and disdain at the suggestion that he and Gold E. Locks were dating, and Gold E. Locks appearing stricken. After the presentation of the evidence and arguments by counsel, Judge Williams instructed the two juries and sent them to deliberate in separate jury rooms. The juries returned to announce their starkly differing verdicts in open court. All participants were then treated to a lunch of pizza and sodas, purchased with donations from numerous Corporation Counsel employees. The students enjoyed the trial a great deal and started debating immediately who would get to play which roles next year. Note: the D.C. Corporation Counsel/Terrell Junior High School Partnership is one of 36 partnerships sponsored by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (“WLC”) under WLC’s Public Education Legal Services Project. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization