CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Mokulele Elementary School sixth-graders participated yesterday in a mock trial staged by the 15th Air Base Wing's legal office which pitted Goldilocks against the Three Bears. At the end of the trial, Judge David Snyder, left, delivered his ruling against Goldilocks, much to the delight of the students and bears.

Fairy tale ‘trial’
teaches students
about laws

Mokulele sixth-graders are
"Law Day" jurors at Hickam air base

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

"Goldilocks" never had a chance.

Even before she took the stand yesterday, an informal poll of jurors thought she was guilty, and the judge had to warn them that no evidence had even been presented to them.

The occasion was a "Law Day" demonstration for 68 sixth-graders at Mokulele Elementary School at Hickam Air Force Base.

The jurors were members of two sixth-grade classes, and the mock trial was staged by the 15th Air Base Wing's legal office, led by Col. Joseph Dent, who told the class that the theme of this year's Law Day observance was "ensuring equal access to justice for all."

Goldilocks, portrayed by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Crayton, was charged with trespassing, breaking a chair and stealing porridge.

The Mokulele students stepped right into their role as jurors and rallied behind either Goldilocks or the three bears -- Papa Bear (Master Sgt. Rod Wilson), Mama Bear (Tech. Sgt. Deirdra Wilson) and Baby Bear (Rob Barry).

There were loud cheers as the prosecutor, Capt. Owen Tullos, finished his opening statements by declaring that Goldilocks was "guilty, guilty, guilty," pounding his fist each time to make his point.

Capt. Kristin Coccaro, Goldilocks' attorney, didn't get much sympathy when she told jurors that the defendant was "a sweet young kid much like yourself. She got lost. She got scared. She got hungry."

That was the only reason she entered the bears' home, accidentally broke a chair and ate Baby Bear's breakfast porridge.

Coccaro even got Papa Bear to admit that he did growl a lot.

"You growled at Goldilocks, and that is why she was scared," the defense said to Papa Bear. "You growled at her, didn't you?"

"You darn right," Papa Bear replied. "I would do it again."

In closing arguments, Tullos told the students that Goldilocks never got permission to enter the Bears' home, never got permission to sit in the chair nor did she get permission to eat the porridge.

"When you take something that doesn't belong to you," Tullos told the students, "that's stealing. And stealing is always wrong.

"When you go into someone's home without permission, that's trespassing."

Coccaro, in her closing arguments, tried to persuade the students that Goldilocks was only guilty of getting lost, accidentally breaking a chair, which she promised to replace, and being scared by the "big, mean, ugly bear" who never gave her a chance to explain or apologize.

But juror Lee Flint, 12, didn't buy that argument. "She's evil. She broke in when she didn't have permission."

Chelsea Thomas, 12, disagreed. "She tried to say she was sorry, but Papa Bear scared her and she never got the chance."

And Trishia Knapp, 12, added: "They should have locked their doors. If they had been locked, she would have never been able to get in."

Mokulele Principal Rick Nosaka noted that "Hickam is really family-oriented and very supportive of our kids."

Dent said his team of 30 uniformed lawyers and paralegals and civilians serve more than 15,000 people, including retirees and dependents. "Many of them aren't even in the Air Force," he added. "As long as you have a military ID, we will provide you service."

Services range from preparing income tax returns and wills to holding courts-martial for crimes like murder, rape and burglary.