HOLLAND (WHTC) — Some Holland High students expected in 58th District Court, 85 W. 8th Street in Holland, on Thursday, May 26, 2016, will be there to learn, not testify.
Daniel Telgenhof’s advanced-placement government students will use Courtroom B for a daylong criminal mock trial, starting at 8:20 a.m.
For two weeks, the teens have been studying to portray various roles in the mock trial: police officers, investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, court staff, judge and jury. They’ve prepared opening statements based on the facts and legal issues of the mock case, along with jury voir dire questions, direct and cross examination questionsand closing arguments.
On the bench: 58th District Court Judge Bradley S. Knoll, who mentors students for this mock trial and the late-April Michigan Supreme Court Community Program. Other court officials lend a hand, too: Ottawa County’s Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Lee Fisher and defense attorney Bob Hamilton.
The mock trial is a project of All RISE! Access to Courts Committee of the 58th District Court. Organizers are Leticia Gonzalez-Ortiz, Marisa Vredevoogd, Elizabeth Stegenga, Cindy Daldos, Katelyn Wegener, Ryan Gamby, Jodi Salacina and Lori Catalino, according to a press release from Catalino, the District Court’s administrator.
