Makaylah Phelps is not a judge, but she is a rising high school senior at Montgomery Blair High School.
Seated in a black judge鈥檚 robe in a Montgomery County courtroom, she carried herself with the authority of a veteran jurist on the bench.
She and more than 30 other high school students were taking part in the Montgomery County State鈥檚 Attorney鈥檚 Office Summer Academy.
Saher Kataria, a senior at Northwest High School, was the prosecutor in the mock trial and was confident of a win in a case where the charges included robbery and assault.
Kataria said that during the weeklong summer session, students heard from attorneys, judges and law enforcement officials and she kept in mind the advice of one attorney who told students to stick to a theme in their arguments.
Kataria said when she came up with her closing argument, she kept one thing in mind: 鈥淵ou cannot outrun evidence.鈥�
鈥淭he defense tried to outrun the police, tried to outrun the blame by pushing it on to someone else, but at the end of the day, you cannot outrun evidence,鈥� she explained.
Ela Komuntale, who will be a junior at Winston Churchill High School this fall, was among the members of the jury in the mock trial.
When asked for her verdict on the performances of her peers, she said, 鈥淚 think they did amazing,鈥� adding that the attorneys鈥� closing arguments on both sides were powerful.
鈥淚 felt real drama,鈥� Komuntale said. 鈥淚 felt like they weren鈥檛 just reading off a script. They were actually emulating the witnesses or victims in the situation.鈥�
She added, 鈥淚 feel like this kind of shows how the amendments and all the things we鈥檙e taught 鈥� how they actually work in real life.鈥�
Asked if she felt the weeklong session is helping her understand her rights, Komuntale said 鈥�100%.鈥�
Fellow juror Brianna Abercrombie, a rising junior at Sherwood High School, agreed with the other students that the weeklong session is bringing classroom lessons to life in a new 鈥� and vivid 鈥� way.
鈥淎ll the speakers are amazing,鈥� said Abercrombie, adding that the students heard from a variety of speakers who shed light on the day-to-day operations of the justice system.
鈥淚 loved it. It was so interesting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was super informative, absolutely amazing.鈥� When asked if she鈥檇 give it a nine out of 10, Abercrombie said, 鈥淭en out of 10, would recommend.鈥�
After a brief recess, it was time to let the jury deliberate. Within minutes, they made their decision. Phelps, in her role as judge, directed the jury foreman to announce the findings. The verdict was not guilty on both counts.
Phelps turned to the jury and said, 鈥淛ury, we appreciate your service and cooperation in this case today,鈥� and then asked the defense if they wanted to poll the jury. One by one, they confirmed their decision.
State鈥檚 Attorney for Montgomery County John McCarthy said the weeklong sessions are a great way to help students understand the legal system.
鈥淢any things go into deciding what to charge, not to charge, many things go into deciding what the punishment should be for a certain crime,鈥� he said. And getting a close look at what goes into those decisions, he said, is important.
Asked if he saw any future legal eagles among the participants, McCarthy said, 鈥淚 think I should be handing out job offers to about half the people I have here today. They would be great. They鈥檙e very, very smart young kids.鈥�
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