Hoosac Valley Students Hold Mock Trial With Adams Police
CHESHIRE, Mass.— Because of the fine policing of Hoosac Valley sixth-graders, a perpetrator was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
The hammer of the law came down swiftly Wednesday afternoon when the honorable Edmund St. John IV heard the evidence gathered by the Hoosac Valley forensics after-school program and sent Adams Police Officer Travis Cunningham into confinement for armed robbery and larceny.
"Based on the evidence that I have heard today and the work done by the police officers on this case and the testimonies from witnesses, I find the defendant guilty," St. John said. "And may God have mercy on your soul."
After the ruling the volunteer judge, a School Committee member and attorney, ordered everyone to enjoy, even the guilty, a pizza party to celebrate the end of the forensic program hosted by the Adams Police Department.
Cunningham said the mock trial was designed as an end-of-the-year assessment to really test the 15 students' mettle.
"This is the culmination of everything they learned this year," Cunningham said. "It is putting all of the things they learned together to see how the whole things comes into fruition."
Officer Gregory Onorato, who acted as the defense attorney during the trial, said different officers have been going to Hoosac Valley weekly since January to teach the children many aspects of law enforcement such as lifting fingerprints, crime scene investigation, motor vehicle stops, and much more.
Officer Colby Clark said the students responded to two "crime scenes" in May and, using their newly acquired knowledge of law enforcement, gathered evidence to be used at the trial.
"We dispatched them to a call," Clark said. "They went and they wrote up a report, took statements, took pictures and we told them to prepare the report and get everything ready."
The first case brought before the judge by Police Chief Richard Tarsa, the prosecutor representing the commonwealth, was a case of armed robbery on May 25 at 2 p.m. in which the victim reported that an individual matching Cunningham's description hit her with a rolling pin and stole her purse.
"Officer" Rosemary Ziarnik, who was on the scene, was called to the witness stand to provide her testimony.
"There was a victim on the floor bleeding and there was a rolling pin on the floor in front of her with blood on it," Ziarnik said. "She got hit on the left temple and the left lower lip."
Cunningham said he was on the other side of campus that day meeting with Onorato. He said he did see that she was injured but had no part in it nor intervened because it was out of his jurisdiction.
The second case brought forth had to do with a stolen microscope.
"Officer" Emma Moser was brought to the witness stand and said she responded to Stephanie Somerville's classroom when she called to report the stolen microscope. She said Somerville left her classroom to go to the bathroom and when she returned the microscope was gone. Cunningham, who was the only person in the room with her, was also gone.
She said they checked for fingerprints and found ones that matched Cunningham's.
Cunningham said he only left the room to check on some commotion he heard down the hall.
Somerville was called to the stand and went through a photo array containing Justin Bieber's and Christopher Walken's photos, however she successfully recognized Cunningham's photo and pointed him out in the courtroom.
After leaving the stand after the verdict, Moser said being a cop is hard work.
"It was fun and I learned that it is not easy being a police officer," she said. "It is not easy at all."
Onorato said he hopes that the program was a good experience for those interested in a future in law or in law enforcement.
He added that the more exposure students have with police officers the better.
"It is important for them to feel comfortable talking to us because they are at the age when things start to happen in their lives," Onorato said. "I think it is important for kids to have a couple of officers they feel comfortable talking to."
Tarsa said this is the first year the department had run the program and because of its success, he hopes to expand on it next year.
Tags: Adams Police, after school programs, forensics, HVHS,
