Students from Middle School 145 in the South Bronx outlawyered kids from a fancy upper East Side private school to win the ninth annual Thurgood Marshall Junior Mock Trial competition. “We worked hard and it paid off,” said 14-year-old Carissma Hughes, a lawyer on her eighth-grade legal team. “At first I was nervous, but in the middle of the trial I enjoyed the rush. Now, I realize I want to become a defense attorney.”

The mock trial, held last week at the Bronx County court building, was based on two men boarding a subway and robbing a man. Real-life Bronx Assistant District Attorneys Jon Westland and Jaci Flug volunteered to coach the Bronx students. Edwin Carbajal, 14, who served as a prosecutor, said when it was his turn to speak to the jury during closing arguments, he looked them right in the eye as he spoke. Continue article here…