Criminal Law: Issues of child abduction, grand theft, and self-incrimination
When a young child is taken from a park, a routine traffic stop results in a non-custodial parent being charged with child abduction. In an optional pretrial motion based on the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, students can argue whether the defendant's Miranda rights were violated when the police drove their suspect by a hotel where the child was found. The trial deals with other key issues of the case.
Mock trials developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation include the facts of a hypothetical case, witness statements, relevant legal authorities, complete trial instructions, and procedural guidelines. Each also contains an optional pretrial motion designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of constitutional issues related to the criminal trial process.
Mock trials at this grade level are not scripts, but rather give a set of facts and allow witnesses and lawyers to create testimony and questioning consistent with the facts. They typically have about eight speaking parts. They can usually be presented in one class period or adapted to be presented in that period, but most could take more time if it were available. These mock trials are suggested for use with students in grades 7-12.
Other mock trials are also available at the same price (see below).
