Dakota Student Found Guilty of Larceny in Mock Trial

Judged by a jury of her peers, a student was found guilty Wednesday of larceny from a motor vehicle. However, senior Kelsie Klepto will not face jail time or fines for her misdemeanor charge.

Why? Her conviction came in the form of a mock trial–the sixth organized by Dakota teacher to offer students a firsthand look at the criminal justice system.

“My main goal is for the students to see the education and skill level of the attorneys and legal professionals,” Allaire said. “I know television is very misleading and most judges and attorneys will laugh when they talk about television programs that portray the law because they do it in a misleading fashion. So that is my main goal, for students to see the (legal professionals) do their thing.”

In Wednesday’s trial, the legal professionals were 41-A District Court Judge Douglas P. Shepherd, assistant prosecuting attorney John Paul Hunt, criminal defense attorney Timothy Barkovic, Detective Lori Misch of Macomb County Youth Services, Dakota senior Kelsey Nolan and Dakota senior Jackie Abraham. 

Acting as alter ego Kelsie Klepto, Nolan was charged with stealing a silver iPhone from the car of former best friend Fay Fairweather, portrayed by Abraham.

Barkovic and Hunt had only 30 minutes prior to the start of the trial to build their respective cases and neither had the advantage of video surveillance or eye witness reports to present as evidence.

While Klepto admitted to taking the phone from Fairweather’s car, a twist in the otherwise clear case came when the jury learned the phone had been a gift from Klepto to Fairweather and remained in Klepto’s name. 

Barkovic attempted to sway the jury by arguing, “It is legally impossible to steal your own property.”

However, neither Barkovic’s “loaned phone” argument nor love triangle allusion (the Klepto-Fairweather friendship ended because of the character Paul Player’s changed affections) was able to sway the jury and a unanimous guilty vote was delivered at the trial’s end.

“It was very close and could have gone either way,” Shepherd said of the case. “It was very well-handled.”

While this was Shepherd’s first time presiding over a mock trial at Dakota, he is a longtime supporter of this type of program.

“It’s really good from two perspectives,” he said. “You see reality in terms of handling criminal case proceedings. You see the nuts and bolts of the case and impress on (students) the serious nature of judicial practice. It also has a good impact on future jobs.”

It is the mock trial’s ability to showcase the different positions available in the legal system that Allaire said encourages him to continue organizing this type of program rather than a standard lecture.

Well, that and the fact that in a standard lecture, you probably won’t see an assistant prosecuting attorney cramming a Lorna Doone cookie into his mouth to illustrate the “crumbs” left on the defendant’s face from her actions.

“It was very theatrical,” Allaire said.

Theatrical, but informative.