Papa Bear took the witness stand inside a cramped Denver courtroom Wednesday and described the crime scene he found upon returning home one December morning.
He’d gone out to get honey, Papa Bear told the jury, while Mama Bear and Baby Bear went to get fish. When he arrived back home, he walked into the kitchen only to find someone had eaten all of their porridge.
Then he saw her — Goldilocks — sleeping in Baby Bear’s bed. She wore a red hood, Papa Bear testified.
“We woke her up and she just ran out of the house,” said Papa Bear, who, outside of this courtroom, is actually an 11-year-old named King Bishop.
Goldilocks quietly sat facing Papa Bear as he described the events of Dec. 14. Fifth-graders from Whittier ECE-8 School had convened in Courtroom 104 in the Denver City and County Building to determine whether she was guilty of her alleged crimes.
The students, and kids from other Denver schools, put the beloved fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” on trial Wednesday as part of the Denver District Attorney’s Office’s Courts to Classrooms program, which for at least 20 years has sought to teach children about the criminal justice system.
About 151 Denver students participated in this year’s Goldilocks trials.
Judge Mykhia Richardson, an 11-year-old in pink glasses, presided over the mock trial in Courtroom 104. A bailiff and defense attorney also were present in court — all students — with witnesses waiting to be called to testify. A jury of three would decide Goldilocks’ fate by noon.
Real-life District Attorney Beth McCann also was on hand to guide Mykhia and prosecutor Chandler Dixon, 10, along with their peers, through the proceedings.
Goldilocks faced four charges, including three felonies, for her alleged crimes. They were: breaking and entering (she allegedly entered and unlawfully remained in the Bear family’s home); criminal mischief (she allegedly broke a rocking chair, which caused more than $500 in damage); theft (she allegedly ate all of the family’s porridge); and criminal trespass of a dwelling (she allegedly entered the Bears’ home and stayed with the intent to commit a crime).
But Goldilocks’ defense attorney was quick to point out a major discrepancy in the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses. While on the stand, the witnesses, including members of the Bear family and police, described Goldilocks as having blonde hair — and yet the girl sitting in the courtroom across from them had dark hair.
The attorney asked the witnesses a simple question, which they struggled to answer: How could Goldilocks change her hair color when she’s been locked up in jail?
At one point, it appeared Chandler’s case had fallen apart when Mama Bear, while on the witness stand, described Goldilocks as having brown hair, a blue dress and glasses — a description that matched the girl sitting in front of her playing Goldilocks, but not the blonde the three previous witnesses had described fleeing the crime scene.
When pressed by the defense, Mama Bear’s story further unraveled as her timeline as to when she returned home from catching fish — along with when Papa Bear had returned from getting honey and when the police had arrived to arrest Goldilocks — didn’t match descriptions by other witnesses, or even what she herself had said moments earlier.
Chandler appeared exasperated with his witness’s testimony, repeatedly putting his face in his hands and turning towards McCann in disbelief.
Mama Bear’s confusion as to what happened that morning in December eventually drew laughter from everyone, including herself.
After the trial, Mama Bear said she had gotten nervous during her testimony.
“It was my first time doing it,” said 10-year-old Denay Watson, who played Mama Bear. “There were so many people here. I almost fainted.”
But Mama Bear didn’t have to worry.
The trial ended without Goldilocks testifying and the three-person jury met briefly behind closed doors to deliberate.
When the jurors returned, they delivered their verdict: Goldilocks was guilty on all four charges.
“They literally had no evidence on me but still found me guilty somehow!” said 12-year-old Mahlanie Lang Howard, who played Goldilocks, in an interview after the trial. “This was actually pretty fun even though I lost.”
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