LYNNWOOD — Over the past 30 years Lynnwood attorney Paul Hanson has learned that fifth-graders are a curious bunch with no shortage of questions.
Hanson has heard some doozies.
What do judges wear under their robes? Is adultery a crime? Do attorneys ever take bribes?
“These kids can ask some really probing questions,” Hanson said as he waited for another round of students to descend on the South Division of Snohomish County District Court.
About 875 fifth-graders visited the Lynnwood court Friday as part of its annual law day celebration. The court first opened its doors to local students in 1987, Hanson said. In those first years, about 60 students toured the courthouse.
The event grew as it became popular with Edmonds School District teachers. The courthouse staff and volunteers, including local attorneys and police officers, also look forward to the show-and-tell day.
Students on Friday visited four different courtrooms to meet police officers, defense lawyers, prosecutors and traffic safety specialists.
“We want to teach the kids they don’t have to view the courthouse, or law enforcement, or judges as scary,” said Judge Beth Fraser, who presides over the county’s district courts.
There were plenty of oohs and ahhs Friday as a few police officers introduced their partners — specially trained dogs used to sniff out drugs and suspects.
“Can they find dead bodies?” one girl asked Snohomish County deputy sheriff Brandon McCullar.
McCullar explained that his dog, Luuk, is trained to track down living people.
Lynnwood police officer Jacob Shorthill brought out his partner, Eli, who eagerly sniffed out heroin in a shoebox and was rewarded with a chewy rubber ball.
Some students gasped as Eli latched onto the padded bite sleeve worn by State Patrol trooper Daryll Tolen.
“Here,” Shorthill ordered the dog. The animal let go of the trooper in an instant, eliciting applause from the fifth-graders.
Down in Courtroom 4, Hanson handed a boy a gavel to get one of the day’s dozen mock trials under way.
“Judy Student” was on trial for shoplifting a $25 hat from a department store. Students filled the roles of judges, bailiffs, prosecutors, defense attorneys and jurors.
Teresa Otsubo is an assistant state attorney general who has volunteered for law day for at least 16 years. Hanson recruited her to help the kids learn about trials.
As the jurors deliberated the case behind closed doors, Otsubo asked the rest of the students if “Judy Student” was guilty. The girl said she’d forgotten to pay for the hat and had run out of the store to ask her friend for money. The majority of the audience was persuaded that their classmate was innocent.
The jury couldn’t reach a decision. One boy held out, convinced that “Judy Student” was guilty of theft.
Macey Farr, 11, one of the prosecutors during the trial, sided with the lone juror. The jury could have been swayed because the defendant had a “pretty believable story” in the beginning, the Oak Heights Elementary School fifth-grader said.
The mock trial was a hit with Macey, who said she’d like to be an attorney one day.
“I want to be a prosecutor because I feel like too many people are let loose,” she said.
Admittedly, she also likes to debate.
“Yes, she does,” her mom Heather Farr said.
Back in Courtroom 4, Hanson pointed to the tally after six trials. Four juries had come back hung. One convicted the defendant, and one had acquitted their classmate.
“We hope the kids benefit from spending time here,” he said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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