TIFTON — Tiftarea Academy’s fourth grade classes held their annual Mock Trials on Friday 13th in the State Courtroom at the Tift County Administration Building.

Mrs. Kari Collins’ class presented the case of Three Bears vs. Gold E. Locks while Mrs. Amber Hudson’s class tried to determine if there was a wolf in sheep’s clothing in the case of B.B. Wolf (a.k.a Big Bad Wolf) v. Curly Pig and yet another Hollywood celebrity ended up in the courtroom when Woody “the Rooting Tooting Cowboy” of Toy Story fame was brought up on charges of attacking and kidnapping his best friend Buzz Lightyear.

The mock trials highlighted a study of the judicial system by the students and gave them an opportunity to view the roles of each participant during the course of an actual trial.

Several members of the trial process spoke to the students before the trials actually began.

State Court Judge Herby Benson briefly explained his role in the trial process while Tift County Solicitor Jason Hoffman and Assistant Solicitor Bryce Johnson discussed the prosecution of criminal cases.

Burt Baker spoke on behalf of the Tift County Indigent Defenders program about the role of the defense attorney in representing a client.

 Tift County Clerk Clay Pate spoke on how his office manages the records of each court proceeding and Lavonia Mathis explained the role of the bailiffs during the course of a trial. Court stenographer

Tammy Curran described how she recorded testimony during the trial.

Deputy Claudia Barrios of the Tift County Sheriff’s Department explained the department’s responsibilities in maintaining and ensuring the security of the courtroom during any proceeding and gave the students a mini-tour of the courtroom.

Each of the students will write an essay about their experience and a winner will be selected from each class.

One essay will be selected to be read at Tift County’s Law Day event which is hosted by the Tifton Judicial Circuit Bar Association.