Jury: Jail time for Gold E. Locks juuuust right

~ Mo. Supreme Court Judge Mary Rhodes Russell presided over a mock trial Friday at the university.

A jury Friday took less than 30 seconds to convict Gold E. Locks of burglary, theft and property damage.

Immediately after the verdict was read, the court bailiff ushered the defendant away to jail as the victims, the Bear family, cheered on at the jurors' quick decision.

While not necessarily a landmark case, the State of Missouri vs. Gold E. Locks was certainly one that entertained and educated.

The mock trial against Locks, more commonly known as Goldilocks, was performed by 11th- and 12th-grade government class students from Eagle Ridge Christian School.

The performance was brought to Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium by Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary Rhodes Russell and included local fourth- through 12th-graders as spectators and jurors.

"I think it's a good exercise," said Jonathan Thomasson, the performers' government teacher.

The case revolved around Locks, played by brunette Elizabeth Kampmeyer, breaking into the Bears' home, eating soup, breaking a chair and sleeping in their bed.

Witnesses included the entire Bear family, a police officer, Locks and her mother.

Throughout the hourlong performance, the audience laughed along with the players to some of the more absurd remarks, including Ben Douglas, who portrayed Baby Bear, testifying he is seeking counseling for the break-in from Dr. Winnie the Pooh.

"I have bad dreams," Baby Bear said, whose statement regarding counseling was objected to and stricken from the record.

Mama Bear, played by Kassy Hess, testified that the home was a mess when the family returned from a walk, with muddy tracks all over floor and the furniture in disarray. Upstairs, she and her family found Locks sleeping in her son's bed.

"I said, 'Girl, you get out of my baby's bed right now,'" Mama Bear said.

Locks awoke to find the three bears staring down at her, including Papa Bear growling, prompting her to flee from the home.

During her testimony, Locks asserted she was merely lost, cold and hungry when she came upon the Bear's home. She testified she would have her mother, Silver Locks, pay for soup she ate and the chair she accidentally broke.

"I felt really bad. I was going to have my mom pay for it," she said, adding that her mother did not believe her story when the two were reunited.

But Locks' claims of extenuating circumstances and lack of criminal intent could not sway the majority of the approximately 150 jurors who were in attendance.

After the spectators voted on Locks' guilt, which was a departure from the required anonymous verdict by jurors, Rhodes opened the floor to questions from the students about the trial process.

"You always learn more by doing it," she said.

Rhodes, who was in Cape Girardeau on a whirlwind tour Friday that included speaking arrangements with the local Bar and college students, has been part of close to 10 such Goldilocks trials.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127