TARZANA : Children Get a Hands-On Legal Lesson

Friday was just like any other day in Division 118 of Van Nuys Municipal Court--with a few exceptions. The judge was a cherub-cheeked, pony-tailed fifth-grader named Maya. The jurors swung their feet as they sat in their swivel chairs, and the bailiff stood 4-feet, 5-inches tall.

No, it was not a specialized legal case involving the altitudinally challenged. Rather, it was a mock trial put on by fifth-grade students from Wilbur Avenue Elementary School as part of a program intended to expose them to the inner workings of a real courthouse.

The third annual Day at Van Nuys Courthouse was sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Women Lawyers Assn. in honor of Law Day, May 1, a national event celebrating the importance of law in American society. On Friday, students sat in on arraignments and other courtroom procedures, learned about their constitutional rights and talked with trial lawyers.

The field trip was the culmination of a six-week learning unit at the Tarzana school about the American court system and the U. S. Constitution.

It began with a talk by Encino defense lawyer Malka Tasoff, who discussed defendants’ rights--such as the right to not incriminate themselves--and the concepts behind legal terms, such as plea bargain and bail.

Tasoff came up with the idea for the children’s courthouse visits and continues to coordinate the program. Tarzana Deputy City Atty. Jeffrey M. Harkavy was one of several volunteer lawyers who escorted groups of students.

“They asked if it was true that some kids had accidentally been locked up in jail” on previous visits, Harkavy said, incredulous. “I told them I hadn’t heard that.”

Other students asked where Erik and Lyle Menendez had been tried for the slayings of their wealthy parents. The children were surprisingly well-versed in the facts of the notorious case, which was heard next door in Van Nuys Superior Court. “I was impressed,” Harkavy said.

Students were quiet and well-behaved when they observed court proceedings in other divisions at the courthouse, but squirmed and fidgeted during long speeches by legal professionals.

And near-pandemonium broke out when a bailiff led the students on a tour of a holding cell. Ten- and 11-year-olds squealed with enthusiasm, flushed the toilet and danced on a bench in the cell.

In the mock trial, the highlight of the day’s events, a student played the role of television character Bart Simpson, accused of painting graffiti on a classroom wall. Classmates played the roles of judge, jury, prosecutor, defense lawyer and witnesses.

Just as in real life, lawyers called witnesses and raised objections throughout the mock trial. Judge Maya Cohen admonished attorneys to “keep it short” and made witnesses swear to tell the truth and nothing but.

Taking over from student “lawyer” Turner Lange, former Los Angeles County Public Defender Wilbur Littlefield delivered the closing arguments in Simpson’s defense. Howard Waco, a real deputy public defender, did the honors for the prosecution.

Somewhat surprisingly, jurors found Simpson guilty, even though the prosecutors had built their case on circumstantial evidence and doubts were raised about the motives of a key prosecution witness.

At the end of the day, students said they believed the U. S. justice system worked most of the time, but isn’t perfect.

“Just look at this trial,” said Martine Edwards. Gesturing in the direction of the already-empty jury box, she chastised jurors for voting to convict Bart Simpson too hastily. “They didn’t have any proof. They didn’t stay in there long enough,” she said.