STARKVILLE – The stakes were high Tuesday for defendant Carmelo Anthony, who faced up to 45 years after pleading guilty to armed robbery.
Anthony, portrayed by Starkville High School sophomore Carmelo Moncrief, allegedly robbed two victims at gunpoint, stealing more than $15,000 meant to help the victims’ dying mother.
“I need the court to understand that this wasn’t just a crime,” one of the two victims, portrayed by sophomore Aniyah Hampton, told the Oktibbeha County circuit courtroom Tuesday. “This was the moment me and my family’s lives changed forever. … I want justice, real justice.”
The prosecutor, portrayed by sophomore Andrew George, argued Anthony’s crime inflicted lifelong trauma on the victims, advocating for the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 45 years.
Sophomore Deniyah Jefferson, portraying a defense attorney, alternatively advocated for a lenient sentence, noting Anthony was a teenager at the time of the crime and had shown remorse and rehabilitative progress since the night of the incident.
Far from seasoned attorneys, the students – along with those portraying the judge, the witnesses and the jury – are all members of Heather Fair’s law and public safety program at Starkville High School’s Millsaps Technology Center. The mock hearing was an opportunity for the 16 students participating on Tuesday to see for themselves what it’s like to argue, testify and render a verdict in a courtroom trial.
Fair began teaching the law and public safety program in 2017. Soon after, she reached out to Trina Davidson-Brooks, assistant district attorney for the 16th Circuit, about ways to get students more directly involved in the criminal justice system.
“She wanted them to get more exposure to the actual criminal justice system and what it looks like,” Davidson-Brooks told The Dispatch. “So we invited her class out to the courthouse so that they can actually see a courtroom, see what it looks like, and then we thought it would be fun to not just talk to them and tell them about the criminal justice system, but have them act it out. We started that, and they really, really loved it.”
The informal partnership grew into an annual tradition, giving students a look at courtroom procedure and the chance to step into jobs they may one day pursue.
“The students gain real-world insight into the justice system,” Fair told The Dispatch. “It helps build their confidence, public speaking and develop critical thinking skills that prepare them for future careers in law and public safety.”
Additionally, Davidson-Brooks said the effort might help sway students who already have an interest in criminal justice to eventually go into the field.
“If there are some students who are on the edge about what they want to do in life, it may push them across that edge and say, ‘You know what, I think I like advocating for people’ or ‘I like defending people,’” Davidson-Brooks said. “… So I think that may play a part in some of (the) minds that may be interested in the legal field.”
That’s exactly the case for junior Dallas Gillespie, who is in his second year of the course. Gillespie, portraying the court bailiff on Tuesday, said he already has plans to pursue a legal career as a public defender.
“Being that I am Black, from a historically oppressed and marginalized community, I just think that we deserve fair representation in court, and I would love to help (with that), especially for people who don’t have the funds for legal fees or don’t have the amount needed to pay for attorney fees,” Gillespie said.
The mock hearing on Tuesday offered Gillespie a glimpse at what that future career could look like.
“Being that I want to pursue a career in law and public safety and public services and criminal defense and things like that, I think that … any student who has an interest in pursuing a career in public service should come out and watch because it’s a great experience,” Gillespie said. “There’s a lot that I didn’t know about criminal defense before I came here. People could learn from it.”
Davidson-Brooks said it’s exciting to see students apply themselves in their roles, noting the students who served as jurors during the mock hearing took their roles especially seriously.
“They were very opinioned, and they were strong,” she said. “They were like, ‘Look, he committed the crime. He needs to do some time, but we don’t think he needs 45,’ and they gave reasons (for it) without us prompting them.”
Following their deliberation, the jury filed back into the courtroom behind the judge, who then handed down a 10-year sentence to the mock defendant. Fair, still dutifully acting out her role as the defendant’s mother, broke into a heartfelt sob at the verdict.
Ending the class, Davidson-Brooks encouraged students to reach out to the district attorney’s office if they have any interest in attending more trials or shadowing prosecutors.
“I’m definitely going to try my best to come out and shadow,” Gillespie told The Dispatch.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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