THOUSAND OAKS : ‘Stolen Recipe’ Gives Kids Their Day in Court

A trial was held in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday.

There was testimony from a fingerprint expert. Lawyers cross-examined witnesses. The defendant presented an alibi. And defense strategy was debated quietly in the corner of the courtroom.

With all the drama and tension of a classic whodunit, two dozen third- and fourth-graders acted out the case of the stolen chocolate recipe Wednesday in a summer class at the Conejo Valley Adult School.

The mock trial, which is part of a series of summer classes that teach everything from art to public speaking to law, was held with the aid of a Conejo Valley sheriff’s deputy and a Westlake Village attorney.

With all the formality of a real trial, the children all rose when Zachary Kramer, 8, entered the room dressed in a judge’s robe.

Most of the way through the trial’s first day--it will continue today--the children read from scripts to keep them on track.

“They don’t understand every aspect of this,” said Scott Woodman, the attorney who volunteered to supervise the trial. “But it’s amazing how much they did pick up on.”

For most of the children, this classroom court was their first exposure to the process used to conduct a trial and the concepts upon which trials are based--including the notion that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty.

“I didn’t know how any of this worked before,” said Jean Parks, 7, who is playing the role of the defendant in the case. “I didn’t know that the defendants got their own lawyer, but I’m glad that they do.”

Sheila Brayer, the teacher who runs the class, said many of the children expressed interest in the mock trial because of the publicity surrounding the O.J. Simpson case.

“They came in with a whole vocabulary picked up by watching the O.J. Simpson trial on television,” Brayer said. “Unfortunately, they all want the death penalty for this person who stole a chocolate recipe.”

Today, a jury will decide whether Parks is innocent or guilty.

Either way, Brayer said, Parks will be allowed to participate in the post-trial celebration--when the students dispense with formality, unseal Exhibit A and cook up a batch of the controversial chocolate.