Well, the mock trial is now over and both the students and faculty have learned an enormous amount from the experience. If you read the comments from the previous blog entry about the development of the mock trial, you would see some comments from the student-participants as to their experience.
What have we learned? The students have learned what happens to an offender from arrest through conviction (or acquittal). They understand how difficult it is to try a criminal case from both the prosecutor’s perspective and the defense attorney’s perspective. They also learned the inner-workings of the court system from the ground up.
The biggest lesson was that juries are unpredictable. The jurors in this case almost voted for acquittal. Is it due to the lack of evidence? No, it is due to the perception of the jury members as to the evidence presented and the ability to prove the injuries to this child were, in fact, inflicted by the defendant on the evening of Dillon’s death. We did not have the benefit of putting all the witnesses on the stand. Ultimately, the defendant was found guilty (as he was in the real trial) but it demonstrates how a jury looks at a case as opposed to knowing the outcome.
What was the outcome of the actual murder trial?
The defendant, Steven Wayne McBride, was convicted under Minnesota Statute §609.185, subd. A(2) of First Degree Murder while committing criminal sexual conduct and Minnesota Statute § 609.19, subd. 2(1) which is Second Degree Murder while committing a felony He was acquitted on Second Degree Murder with intent to kill (MSA §609.19, subd. 1(1)). He was sentenced to life without parole. The mother, Denise Irene Patch, was initially charged with Second Degree Murder and pled to Second Degree Manslaughter. While the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines called for 48 months in prison for second degree manslaughter, Judge Leslie Metzen departed upward and gave Denise 96 months in prison. Since inmates only serve about 2/3 of their sentence in prison, Denise was released on parole in October of 2006 after serving about 4.5 years. She will be on supervised release until 2009.
You can look up all this information on the Minnesota Department of Corrections website. Just click on “offender information.”
We know that the older child (the sister of the murder victim) is living with her biological father. The fate of the child Denise was carrying at the time of the murder (Steven McBride is the father) was not determined. We know from speaking with the prosecutors that the child was taken away but do not have any further information.
The faculty members (me, Beth Salo and Katie Messerli) also learned from this experience.
We learned that collaboration is a great teaching technique that keeps students engaged. Personally, I also learned that students grasp concepts more thoroughly through reality-based learning. This is not an experience that could be taught from a text. I will be using this teaching technique across the curriculum. While not on the scale that I used it for the mock trial, collaboration and team approaches to teaching benefit all students regardless of learning styles.
The final step in this learning process is to examine the issue(s) for appeal. Since the appellate courts are not trial courts and do not try cases, the students will isolate only the legal (constitutional) challenges that may arise in a criminal case. It completes the process (except if there are further appeals) from start to finish. It provides some valuable takeaways for the students.
Do you have any collaborative experiences to share? Do you think this approach to teaching is workable for most classes? Do you think you would enjoy this approach to learning?