The courtroom was quiet as the verdict was read.
Kerry Walter, a 28-year-old southside resident, stood at the defense table Friday morning as he awaited to hear whether the three-person jury had found him guilty of robbing Strange Brew Coffee Shop last August. The jury had deliberated for about 10 to 15 minutes following the roughly two-hour trial before they said they had a verdict.
It didn’t take long for Walter, a character portrayed by Indian Creek High School student Nolan Harrison, to learn the verdict. The jury had found him guilty, but unlike at a real trial, he was not jailed. Instead, he sat down as the mock trial he had spent the last few weeks preparing for was over.
For the last five weeks, students from Kenda Eley’s government and economics class have been learning about the legal process and how trials work through a collaboration with local defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, court staff and police officers. Friday’s mock trial was the culmination of those efforts, as students were able to use the knowledge gained to try their hands at legal system roles.
The fictional case students were assigned was a criminal one — a robbery at a Greenwood coffee shop.
A man, dressed in black, wearing a ski mask and walking with a pronounced limp, brandished a gun and demanded money. Three people were in the shop at the time, including two employees. The cashier gave the contents of the cash register to the robber, who also took bags of coffee, a patron’s laptop and a barista’s cell phone before fleeing in a blue pickup truck with a cracked window and a yellow camper shell.
Police found the truck, abandoned, at a dental office near Smith Valley and Averitt roads shortly after the robbery. The truck had been reported stolen from a Walmart in Beech Grove two weeks earlier.
Security footage from the dental office showed the blue truck pull into the parking lot, and someone who hurriedly got out and jumped into a red car. Police found the ski mask in the car and swabbed the truck cab for DNA evidence.
The barista’s phone was tracked to a Waffle House on Indianapolis’ southside, and when officers arrived, they saw the red car. Peering through the car’s windows, they saw a laptop in the backseat — later determined to be one reported stolen.
Inside the busy restaurant, they found a patron who was dressed in black. Investigators tried to question him, but he refused. The patron — later identified as Walter —was arrested for armed robbery.
For the mock trial, students were assigned one of nine roles — prosecutor, defense attorneys, jury, a coffee shop cashier, a barista, a patron, an albi witness, a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office detective and the defendant. At the trial, students assigned to the prosecutor and defense attorney roles took turns examining and cross-examining witnesses, offering objections, delivering opening and closing statements and even, in the case of one defense attorney, polling the jury after the guilty verdict was read.
Johnson County Deputy Prosecutor Shaina Carmichael helped the students on the prosecution side with prosecuting their case, offering advice and guidance. Local defense attorney Dorie Maryan, of Maryan Law LLC, helped students on the defense side, offering advice and guidance too.
Two roles were not played by students: judge and bailiff. Greenwood attorney D. Elizabeth Cox, a partner at Cox & Koons LLP, portrayed the judge; Johnson County Magistrate Judge Brandi Foster Kirkendall played the bailiff.
Indian Creek’s mock trial was one of two to take place Friday. While Indian Creek’s took place in the Circuit Court at the Johnson County Courthouse, one was also taking place at Center Grove High School with Johnson Superior Court 2 Judge Peter Nugent in attendance.
Having the mock trials is part was Nugent’s idea to commemorate Law Day. The day of recognition for the legal profession is held annually on May 1 to celebrate the rule of law and cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal system, judicial officers are encouraged to educate schools, colleges and universities about the system.
Instead of just going to speak at schools, Nugent suggested that, as a bar association, all the local lawyers get more engaged with the schools and asked if they were interested in doing a mock trial. Indian Creek and Center Grove were, Kirkendall said.
Nugent handled Center Grove, while Kirkendall and Courts Administrator Shena Johnson worked with Indian Creek. They got volunteers from the prosecutor’s office, defense counsel and detectives. For the past five weeks, they’ve been meeting with students at the schools to get them prepared with the case scenario in their differing roles, she said.
The final part was the mock trial, and in Indian Creek’s case, inviting them to the courthouse. Halfway through the trial, Kirkendall said they were doing fantastic.
Eley, the student’s teacher, is “incredibly grateful” for the professionals who participated in the experience. As for the students, at first, they were a little apprehensive, but once they met the attorneys and judges and realized they were “normal humans just like them,” they were more invested and ready to jump in, she said.
“As we got closer to the actual trial day, they became more invested and really owned it,” Eley said.
It’s important for students in the community to be comfortable with the court system and know what the different parts of the system do, which is what this outreach does, Kirkendall said. Students have a chance to ask questions and to gauge interest in a legal career, she said.
The outreach also builds a relationship with the schools so they can contact the courts if needed, Kirkendall said.
“I think in the in the past, they’ve been hesitant to reach out and ask maybe for us to come talk or to come visit,” she said. “Building these relationships is important so they know what we do and that we are a resource for them.”
Ella Booth, one of the students who played a prosecutor role, learned a lot about public speaking, confidence and the court system, she said after the trial. She was surprised the defendant was found guilty and the amount of fun she had, she said.
“I was prepared to put in the work but I wasn’t prepared to actually really enjoy anything,” Booth said.
Booth was also appreciative of the legal professionals who took time to take part. The judges and attorneys helped the students “so much,” particularly when they came to their classes, added Rachel McClanahan, one of students portraying a defense attorney.
“We’d ask any questions; there was no such thing as a bad or a stupid question. It was a super open process, ” McClanahan said.
Harrison, who had the starring role as Walker, the defendant accused of robbery, had trouble figuring out what to do as a defendant. A week before the trial, he had spent time talking with the students playing as his defense attorneys about how to prove his innocence, he said.
Nothing really surprised Harrison when learning about the process, as he’s seen a “few long cases” on the Ace Attorney video games, he said.
He’d even like to do it again, although in a different role.
“I don’t mind doing anything other than defendant,” Harrison said.
