Sacramento Lawyer: High School Students

Program Gives High School Students A Taste Of Jury Service

In February, nearly 300 high school juniors and seniors from seven schools served as jurors in mock criminal trials held at Sacramento's federal courthouse. The jury service was part of the third annual "Open Doors to Federal Courts" program, an outreach and education program sponsored by the federal judiciary that links courts to their communities.

In three separate courtrooms, Chief Judge David F. Levi, the Honorable William B. Shubb, and the Honorable Kimberly J. Mueller presided over the mock trial over a student accused of receiving a stolen vehicle. The case, United States v. Howard, was prosecuted by attorneys from the U.S. Attorney's Office and defended by attorneys from the Federal Public Defenders Office. Each student was assigned to juries and given the opportunity to experience all aspects of jury service.

The Eastern District Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit, Matt Jacobs, Lance Olson, Joanna Mendoza, Andy Stroud, and Steve Felderstein, worked as the coordinating committee for the event. Financial support for the program was provided by the Sacramento Law Foundation, Olson Hagel & Fishburn, LLP, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, and Felderstein, Fitzgerald, Willoughby & Pascuzzi, LLP.

After their deliberations, several students took a tour of the holding cells at the United States Courthouse.	Federal Defender Jeff Staniels, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kymberly Smith, and District Judge William Shubb posed for a picture while the student-jurors engaged in their deliberations.
Luther Burbank teacher Kevin Chorjel posed with his students in the rotunda of the courthouse.
After the mock trials, the students had questions about the jury system.
They say that prosecutors and defense attorneys usually fight like cats and dogs, but Assistant U.S. Attorney William Wong and Assistant Federal Defender Caro Marks show that even natural adversaries can get along with each other.
After completing their service as mock jurors, the students ate lunch in the rotunda of the courthouse. The lunch period gave the students the chance to meet some of the judges as well as to visit information tables set up by federal agencies in attendance in order to receive information about careers in the federal justice system.

May / June 2004