JAG Officers visit Vilseck High School

Photo By Spc. Destinee Rodriguez | Judge Advocate General’s Corps officers speak to students and perform a mock trial for the students of Vilseck High School, May 9, 2022 at VHS in honor of Law Day. The JAG Officers hoped that by demonstrating the trial process, the students would have a better understanding of both their rights as American citizens, and the ways in which witness testimonies can affect a trial. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Destinee Rodriguez)  

VILSECK, GERMANY

05.09.2022

Story by Pfc. Destinee Rodriguez 

7th Army Training Command

VILSECK, Germany – Gasps echo in Dana Panczenko’s classroom as a woman on the stand admits to an affair with a department store detective. The students of Vilseck High School are in shock at the implications this testimony will have on the case unfolding in front of them.
Officers from 7th Army Training Command’s Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) visited Vilseck High School, May 9, 2022, in honor of Law Day with the intention to educate students on their rights as American citizens and the difference between the civilian and military judicial systems. To show the judicial process, the JAG officers put together and performed a mock trial, complete with twists and turns to help keep the audience enthralled in the tale.
“These high schoolers are future leaders, so we want to make sure they know where their rights come from and who protects them,” said Capt. Christopher Lynch, the legal assistance attorney for 7th ATC. “As for this mock trial, I think it’s cool for them to experience what their parents might be going through or to see another side of an Army Soldier.”
The trial told the tale of an Army captain who had been accused of larceny and assault but when all witnesses were brought to the stand, another layer to the story was revealed, much to the audience's surprise.
“The mock trial today was a great experience,” said Rook Zeller, a junior at Vilseck High School. “It was a great example of what a trial could look like, and that not everything is as expected as you would think.”
Before the trial began, the officers explained to the students where their rights come from and how those rights are protected in court. This exercise served multiple purposes, not only to educate the students, but to help the JAG officers prepare for their part in Nuremburg’s “Long Night of Sciences”: which includes back-to-back mock trials put on by both American and German legal officials to juxtapose the differences between the two judicial systems.
“I think knowing our rights and our legal system is one of the most important things we can know about as Americans,” said Panczenko, a Department of Defense Education Activity teacher. “To understand that we have a code of justice and how that works for us and everyone in our community.”

• Date Taken: 05.09.2022
• Date Posted: 05.13.2022 07:46
• Story ID: 420547
• Location: VILSECK, DE