Editorial: Marin students take important lessons from day in court

More than 60 Novato High School students got a lesson the other day that Marin courthouse leaders hope will save their and others’ lives.

The juniors and seniors observed the real trial of a young Novato man charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

It wasn’t staged.

It was real life in real time.

The 20-year-old defendant had agreed to be tried in front of an audience of local students.

The decision would be rendered by Judge Sheila Shah Lichtblau, but the session allowed for 20 of the students to serve as an “advisory” jury and to deliberate on the charges as if they were actually serving.

The man, a first-time DUI offender, faced up to $1,800 in fines, up to six months of jail time, loss of his license for a year and probation for three to five years.

Those consequences alone should be enough of a sobering message, but when the defendant addressed them, his message was persuasive, calling the impacts on his life – work, school and relationships – severe.

There have been cases – some involving local teens – where the consequences have been tragic, taking young lives.

Because of the defendant’s willingness to participate in the educational program, Lichtblau allowed a plea to a lesser charge, one without jail time and fines.

“Anyone who is thinking of drinking and driving, you have to be aware and know the consequences,” the defendant told the students, maybe only two or three years younger than himself.

The students got to see what happens in the courtroom, testimony from police officers, including a video of the field sobriety test, an expert witness and the work of both the prosecutor and the public defender.

The public defender presented her client’s defense, arguing that the night of the arrest was rainy, his car was old, the tires were bald and the stretch of roadway was dark. The late-night arrest took place after the defendant’s car veered off Bel Marin Keys Boulevard and into Pacheco Pond.

The attorney also challenged the police-administered sobriety tests and the analysis of the blood and breath tests.

The young “jurists” found that the defendant was guilty of driving under the influence, but were deadlocked on the count involving the level of intoxication.

The lesson, however, was not about whether the defendant was innocent or guilty.

For students, it should be a lesson to make decisions that don’t put themselves in the defendant’s shoes. They also got a firsthand look at a real trial and the work of those responsible for the varied roles.

These cases frequently play out in Marin courts. In 2021, that’s where 982 DUI cases were filed, nearly 100 more than the prior year. That’s an average of 18 DUI arrests every week.

Those impressionable hours in “class,” at the county Hall of Justice, are ones that those juniors and seniors will likely remember.