Whitfield vs. Dalton: Schools face off in court

DALTON — Two teens faced long prison sentences last week if convicted of shoving a woman into a hot oven.

But it was all for the sake of education.

Young legal eagles from Whitfield County Schools and Dalton City Schools squared off Thursday and Friday in the mock trial case of the State vs. Hansel and Gretel Schmidt.

Teams from each school system — fourth and fifth grade students in gifted classes — litigated before real judges, or attorneys acting as judges and students and parents as jury members. They used .

Teda Huskey, a teacher at Pleasant Grove Elementary, said Friday that the courtroom experience was beneficial for her students.

“This was a fabulous exercise for persuasive argument and persuasive writing,” she said.

On Thursday, in one mock trial in a courtrooms used by Superior Court in the Whitfield County Courthouse, a defense team from Pleasant Grove tried to ward off the prosecution from Dalton’s C3 Center. Whitfield Superior Court Judge William T. Boyett presided.

The prosecution argued Hansel and Gretel purposefully injured bakery shop owner Lavinia Crueller and stole candy off her gingerbread houses. The Schmidt siblings were charged with aggravated battery, criminal mischief and petty theft.

The defense team argued self dense, and that Ms. Crueller is a witch and provoked the attack.

C3 student and lead prosecutor Lydia Fortuna opened stating the victim is “a wonderful lady who loves children,” and there was “no evidence to prove she really is a witch.”

The defense team, buoyed by Pleasant Grove’s Elliot McBrayer, contended the evidence did not add up, and pressed Ms. Crueller on cross examination.

“How did you get second-degree burns if you had oven mitts on?” Elliot asked. “How did you get the address 666?”

Jurors found the defendants guilty of aggravated battery and petty theft but innocent of criminal mischief.

For Eva Hendrix, a gifted teacher at Cohutta Elementary and key organizer of the mock trial bowl, the verdict was clear — all guilty of learning.