Woodland High School students stepped into the roles of jurors earlier this week as they transformed their school library into a courtroom for a hands-on mock trial experience.

The Woodland Joint Unified School District, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office, and the Woodland Police Department partnered to stage a mock trial this past Thursday to give students a unique opportunity to engage in the judicial process and explore potential careers.

Using a fictitious DUI case as the foundation, the students mapped out the layout of a courtroom and carefully recreated it within the library. To ensure authenticity, students interested in serving as jurors had to apply for the role, submitting applications that demonstrated their enthusiasm for participating in the legal exercise.

Yolo County Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg (ret.) presided over the trial, while Woodland Police Department Officer Sierra Brewer served as a witness. Public Defender Eric Arias and Deputy District Attorneys Gustavo Figueroa and Aloysious Patchen litigated the case. Other participants included Deputy District Attorney Aimee Carrazco as the fictitious “defendant” and Woodland High School librarian Marty Buchignani as the bailiff.

After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defense, the student jury was escorted to a private room to deliberate before ultimately returning a verdict of guilty.

Senior students from Mr. Javier Marin’s AP Government and Politics class had been learning about the judicial process in their class ahead of this mock trial.

“So one thing we take pride in, our partnership with members of our community and our administration, is to bring a hands-on curriculum to our classroom,” Marin said. “We’re currently studying the court system unit or judicial unit, and this is a perfect way for them to see how the court process works in action.”

Marin also shares that this experience served as a way for students to get ready for the next chapter of their lives as they approach graduation.

“Our second component is to make sure we get all of our students ready for the next chapter of life, and part of that is civic engagement and civic duty. In the future, as they get into the adult world, step one is gonna be members of the jury, so they got to see how this process works so that they make good, sound, valid, reliable decisions,” Marin said.

Marin mentioned how excited he was seeing all of his students engaged throughout the whole process.

“I have nothing but a great smile and pride and happiness in my heart because you can see, just based on the body language, all my students were fully engaged,” Marin said.

Marin’s students will go to the courthouse in April to see an actual case. He hopes that the school can continue to offer this experience.

WHS senior Alexandria Williams, who was part of the jury, is interested in becoming a lawyer and was very excited about the experience.

“This was really enjoyable for me because I’ve been wanting to become a lawyer and a prosecuting attorney. This is, like, my dream,” Williams shared. “Being in here and actually doing this experience is very surreal for me because this is what I see my future as.”

Williams mentioned that she is grateful for the experience that her class was able to have.

“It was an enjoyable event, and everybody got to dress up and actually kind of see the different opportunities that we have as seniors and like jobs,” Williams said. “It was a great learning experience, especially for me, because I felt like a little girl, like living her dream, finally through somebody else, and I just, I love every moment of it, and if I could do it again, I would do it 1000 times.”

WHS senior Mason Stewart, who was also part of the jury, also has an interest in law school.

“It was really interesting and opened my eyes a lot,” Stewart said. “I’ve been thinking about going to school for law, and after participating in this, I’m seriously considering a career as a district attorney like Gustavo Figueroa or another role in the legal field.”

WHS Vice Principal Elizabeth Menendez emphasized the event’s positive impact on students and highlighted how it reinforced key academic and professional skills.

“This initiative fostered civic engagement and professionalism and embodied our WHS values of being positive, productive, and professional,” Menendez said. “By participating in this real-world courtroom scenario, students honed their critical-thinking skills, deepened their understanding of the judicial process, and connected with legal professionals who can inspire future careers.”

Figueroa also highlighted the event’s importance in educating students about the legal system and inspiring future careers in law.

“Today’s trial served as an educational tool to demystify the complexities of a criminal jury trial, to educate them about their civic duties as future jurors of Yolo County, and to ignite their passions to pursue careers in our justice system,” Figueroa said. “Our aim is to inspire students to explore careers in this field so that they may one day uphold the pursuit of truth and justice wherever their careers take them. I believe today’s collaboration between Woodland High School and local criminal justice personnel succeeded in doing just that.”