In a history lesson brought to life last week in Mt. Lebanon, George Washington was put on trial in the Markham Court of Common Pleas for the murder of a Frenchman who was killed during a battle that eventually sparked the French and Indian War.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys sat at opposite tables in the courtroom and grilled the witnesses who were called to testify. Col. Washington took the stand in his own defense.

In the end, the verdict was up to a jury of Colonial men and women who took copious notes during the testimony.

The courtroom held a wooden jury box surrounded by a railing, a judge's bench and a witness stand with a microphone, but it was really the classroom of Matt Mikesell, a social studies teacher at Markham Elementary School.

Mr. Mikesell and his colleague, science teacher Mike Young, built the courtroom set. Other props were donated to the effort by the Center for Theater Arts in Mt. Lebanon.

Three mock trials

The mock trial was scripted and conducted by the fifth-grade pupils at Markham. There were actually three trials, one conducted by each of the fifth-grade social studies classes.

In two of the trials, Col. Washington was exonerated, but his Indian cohort, Tanaghrisson, also known as The Half King, was found guilty of the murder of French Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville and sentenced to death by public hanging.

The jury in the third trial couldn't come to a verdict, so both defendants were set free.

Mr. Mikesell said the scenario was chosen for a murder trial as a class exercise, but that the matter never went to trial in 1754.

Mr. Mikesell got the idea for the mock trial after attending the Pennsylvania Governor's Institute for Social Studies Educators last summer. At the institute, he was given an outline of the scenario and characters to use as a basis for a mock trial. But the rest of the work for the productions was done by the pupils themselves.

Historical accounts of the incident say that, although Col. Washington led his men in a predawn attack on a French camp in an area several miles from where Fort Necessity would eventually be built, the attack with muskets only injured Ensign Jumonville. The accounts say his death was caused by Tanaghrisson's striking him in the head with a tomahawk.

During their mock trials, pupils playing prosecutors and defense attorneys called various witnesses to the stand. They included a French soldier who said he had gone into the woods to relieve himself just before the surprise attack and, as a result, had a clear view of the assault on Ensign Jumonville.

The attorneys argued over whether there was adequate light in the predawn hours for the witnesses to clearly see who struck Ensign Jumonville, and which wound, the one caused by the tomahawk or the musket, led to his death.

Madeline Phillips, 10, played the role of the stern-faced judge. She told attorneys when it was their turn to speak and dismissed hearsay evidence with a bang of her gavel. Madeline's mother styled her blond hair to resemble the wigs worn by men of the time, with curls over her ears and a ponytail in back. Her judicial robe was a black graduation gown with a ruffled blouse underneath.

Girl George

Madeline's classmate, Lily Chen, 10, played the role of Col. Washington in the first trial, wearing a white wig and red coat. During testimony, Lily had to explain that, when Col. Washington signed the terms of surrender at Fort Necessity, written in French, he was unaware the document contained an admission to assassinating Ensign Jumonville.

"It was my interpreter's fault, so I have no responsibility for it," Lily, as Col. Washington, testified, clarifying that he didn't intend to take responsibility for the killing.

The jurors in that trial apparently found Col. Washington's testimony credible because they exonerated him.

The pupils started the unit on the French and Indian War in November when Mr. Mikesell had them analyze prints from the era created by local historical artist Robert Griffing. After those discussions, the students visited the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, where they viewed the exhibit, The Clash of Empires: The British, French & Indian War.

Then the pupils worked in their classrooms, researching the particular battle during which Ensign Jumonville was killed. Each group scripted its own trial, deciding what evidence to use and which witnesses to call, and drafted opening statements and closing arguments for both prosecuting and defense attorneys.

To help them with the process, a parent who is a trial attorney spent an hour with the pupils as they developed their cases, Mr. Mikesell said.

Steve Bullick, the district's social studies supervisor, said he was impressed with the mock trial exercise because it incorporated a number of standards into one classroom exercise. "You have research, oral presentation, a history lesson and fine arts," Mr. Bullick said.

The pupils weren't quite so analytical about their experience.

"It was a lot of fun," said Piyusha Sane, 10, who played the role of a prosecutor. "It was a lot better than sitting in class."