WARREN Pupils learn in mock trial

The superintendent said the course also helps students learn problem-solving.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Joanna Chapin doesn't know if a law career is in her future, but she got the chance to play the part of a defense attorney representing a student.
Chapin, 15, a student in the Legally Speaking Class at Warren G. Harding High School, and 23 of her classmates took part in a mock trial Wednesday.
Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court presided over the trial in his courtroom.
"Last week she played Glenda the Good Witch in the school play of 'The Wizard of Oz' and today she is an attorney," said Pamela Chapin, Joanna's mother.
Pamela Chapin and Valerie Bell, whose daughter Porscha, 16, is also in the class, said the course not only helps the students learn about the court system but also how to speak in public.
How this was done: The students played prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses. Community leaders, including attorneys and board of education members, were jurors.
Atty. Mary Mignella, who teaches the class, said the students were given depositions and then told to prepare the case.
"They had to research the law and prepare what they were going to say," Mignella said. "It takes a lot of reading and writing skill and critical analysis."
Mignella and Betty English, schools superintendent, said they do not know of another local school that offers the class.
Their case: "The students also learn a lot of problem-solving techniques," English said. "It's a very worthwhile course for anyone, not just for students who are thinking of a career in law."
The case the students tried dealt with a student crime prevention organization. The students involved in the organization were accused of violating a state law of participating in paramilitary training while attending a survival skills camp.
"The students worked very hard and did an outstanding job," Judge Gysegem said. "You can tell they were very well-trained and it was evident that they worked hard."