Who stole Mary Peabody’s peanut butter sandwich? Westview Elementary students try ‘suspect’ at Spokane County Courthouse

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay had a bit of a different trial on her docket Friday: the case of who stole Mary Peabody’s lunch.

Tiffiny Santos’ third-grade class from Westview Elementary School filled the roles of defense counsel, prosecuting attorneys, witnesses, jury members and the alleged thief in a mock trial that the students have been preparing for the past three weeks. Many of the students dolled up the part, donning dresses and suits for their moment before the judge.

The annual mock trial started several years ago when now-retired Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke III met with the students virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, Santos said. He recruited McKay to take over for him when he retired, and McKay has had the students visiting her courtroom every year since.

Before the trial began, McKay asked the students if they had questions. They peppered her with questions about her favorite part of the job, why she became a judge and the hardest part of her job. When replying to the question about why she became a judge, McKay highlighted the importance of education.

“I grew up on a farm,” she said. “I didn’t want to chase cows.”

One student asked if being a judge was fun.

“Most of the time,” she said. “I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the right word. You make a lot of hard decisions.”

Before donning her black robe, McKay explained the process to the students and what was going to happen.

“We’ll do it just like we do when I do my job on a regular basis,” she said.

Santos said the idea for having a mock trial was sparked by the book “The Trial of Cardigan Jones,” by Tim Egan. In it, Jones is accused of stealing a homemade pie left to cool in a window and is put on trial.

“Most of my kids, their knowledge of court is Judge Judy,” Santos said. “This is very different.”

The attorneys, as played by students, argued that Virgil Goodman was given the task of taking the lunch boxes of his classmates to the cafeteria on the day that Peabody’s lunch went missing. When Peabody opened her lunch box, her juice, chips, peanut butter sandwich and banana were missing. Peabody, played by student Avery Butters, said she thought Goodman had done it because he was giggling and acting up when he returned to class.

Goodman’s attorneys, however, established that no one had seen Goodman take the lunch. Goodman, played by student Asher Smouse, denied taking the lunch and said he doesn’t even like peanut butter. He said he was giggling after coming back to class because his friend, Joe Cool, was making funny faces.

Cool, played by student Rylan Potts, vigorously defended his friend on the witness stand, confirming that Goodman doesn’t like peanut butter and that he was making funny faces at Goodman. He also said that Goodman had his own lunch like usual that day.

“He ate his whole lunch, and after, I shared some of my lunch with him,” he said. “Normally people aren’t hungry after they have extra food.”

At that point, one of the defense attorneys went off script and asked him to demonstrate one of the funny faces he was making. Potts, caught off guard, paused before making a face.

“Let the record show that Mr. Cool made a very funny face,” McKay said.

After the jury deliberated, the jury forewoman announced the verdict.

“Based on the facts we heard in court, the jury decided he is innocent,” she said.

The defense attorneys exclaimed “Yes!” and pumped their fists after the verdict was announced.

McKay addressed the students playing attorneys, praising them for having their questions written down in advance, being prepared and dressing professionally.

“You did a fantastic job,” she said. “You did what, frankly, adults often forget to do.”

The trial had a surprise guest, as Clarke entered the courtroom partway through. He said he was down the hall filling in for a sick judge when he was passed a note during court that Santos’ class was visiting.

“They did a great job,” he said of the students. “We talk about knowing a little bit of civics. What a perfect place to learn.”