A court trial can take weeks and months to conclude because of the volume of evidence and witnesses, but some high school students managed to start and finish a trial in two hours.
Nearly 40 students from Central and A.E. Peacock collegiates’ Law 30 classes participated in a mock trial on Nov. 24 at Court of King’s Bench. Everyone played a role, whether as a jurist, defence counsel, Crown prosecutor, court clerk, sheriff or accused prisoner.
Actual court staff advised students during the proceedings although it was the youths who handled the examination of witnesses and delivered the closing remarks; the trial was based on a script.
The court staff included two sheriffs, the court clerk, Crown prosecutor Monique Paquin, defence counsels Tim Hansen and Parker Chow, and Justice Darin Chow.
The alleged charges included possessing a firearm without a licence and pointing a firearm, all in relation to a loud party in an apartment that became out of hand.
The primary jury found the accused not guilty of the first charge, while the secondary jury also ruled that way; the Crown stayed the second charge.
Jaxson Bowerin, a Grade 12 student at Central, portrayed the accused and sat in the prisoner’s box for most of the trial, although he spent a few minutes testifying in his own defence.
“I’m not going to lie, even though I knew I didn’t actually do anything (and wouldn’t go to jail), it was still a little nerve-racking to sit in the box and have everyone staring at me,” he said. “(But) overall, it was a great experience (and) super fun.
“It’s hard to replicate this in a classroom, so to actually come here was really cool.”
The mock trial was one of the more awesome things Bowerin has done in school, while he appreciated how the teachers arranged the event and recruited actual court staff.
Peacock student Bruklyn Munroe was one of four Crown prosecutors and thought it was a big process putting the case together since it took two weeks of preparation, including drafting and re-drafting the script “like a million times.”
“It was a little bit stressful. As you could see, I probably looked a little bit flushed — and I still am,” the Grade 12 student chuckled. “It was a really fun process, though … (including) creating the questions and trying to prove the charges as best I could.”
Munroe added that all schools should hold mock trials since they can be eye-opening for students wanting to enter the legal profession.
Hansen, a defence lawyer at Chow McLeod, thought it was amazing to engage in practical, hands-on trial work in a real court setting. He noted that many lawyers — including himself — practice for years but never do an actual criminal jury trial.
This was Hansen’s sixth time volunteering with students; he spent a couple of days a week in the classrooms answering their questions. He appreciated how inquisitive the youths were in learning about how trials work.
Hansen was also proud of how all the students performed. Besides the defence counsel, he also commended the Crown prosecutors since that role has the most difficult job in any criminal proceeding.
Hudson Taylor, a teacher intern at Peacock, said putting together the mock trial took plenty of work but had a great payoff. He pre-interned last spring with Cal Carter, Central’s Law 30 teacher, so when the latter knew that the former was teaching at Peacock this year, he reached out and proposed the event, with Taylor agreeing.
Taylor noted that teachers can only do so much in the classroom preparing youths for this, so to do something live “with the full scope of everything … was an invaluable experience for all of them.”
“… They got to see that court doesn’t always go the way you think it’s going to go … ,” he added.
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