Students experience real-life courtroom in Appeals on Wheels

KOKOMO, Ind. - As a future law enforcement officer, the opportunity to witness arguments before the Indiana Court of Appeals gave Gabe Wedmore a glimpse into an element of what his chosen career could involve - and he didn't even have to leave the Indiana University Kokomo campus for the experience.

Wedmore, a senior from Summitville, attended Appeals on Wheels, traveling oral arguments hosted by the Indiana Court of Appeals in locations statewide, for his Psychology in the Courtroom class.

"It was a good experience for me as a student to get an understanding of the laws and see behind the scenes as well, seeing how a case would be handled and judged," said Wedmore, an exercise science major.

IU Kokomo hosted the public hearing in Havens Auditorium, in front of IU Kokomo students, faculty, and staff, as well as students from Fishers High School, Kokomo Area Career Center, Northfield High School, and Wabash High School.

Judges Melissa S. May, Leanna K. Weissmann, and Dana J. Kenworthy considered the case of Kyle Kerr vs. State of Indiana, in which Kerr claims a probation search waiver was overbroad, a search by a probation officer was unreasonable, and a detective's search exceeded the scope of a warrant. Kerr was on probation for drug-related charges and signed a waiver of search/seizure rights as part of his probation. When meeting with a probation officer, he reported having trouble using the drug screen line. In trying to help, the probation officer saw pornography on Kerr's phone, gave the phone back and arranged for the sex offender supervising probation officer to meet with Kerr at his next appointment. At the next meeting, the officer asked Kerr for his phone and passwords and found a file containing child pornography. The officer contacted a detective, who advised him to stop the search and put the phone into airplane mode until he obtained a search warrant. After receiving a search warrant, the detective found around 1,500 pornographic images. Kerr was convicted of 17 counts of level 5 possession of child pornography.

"I found it very interesting when they started talking about how he had given his phone to the parole officer, and gave the code, and had waived his rights," Wedmore said. "This is the kind of situation I could handle in law enforcement. It gave us an inside view of how we can go about certain arguments or cases we talk about in class."

After the hearing, the judges engaged in a question-and-answer session with audience members, discussing general inquiries not related to the case.

Kathryn Holcomb, associate professor of psychology, teaches Wedmore's class, and said they read case studies involving the legal system, "and now students will have a better sense of how the appeals portion of the process works," she said, adding that they will come back to this example throughout the course.

"In this class, students have a range of backgrounds and experiences with the legal system," she said. "It was incredibly helpful for them to be able to see a real appeals case being argued, because even the students with a major or minor in criminal justice may not have had this experience before. It allowed them to see how the process of appeals court works and how lawyers construct their arguments. They saw the types of questions the judges asked each of the attorneys. Students were also able to see how there can be more factors involved in what might have seemed to be a straightforward case when argued in an appeals court."

Chloe Carpenter, a psychology major from Pendleton, said seeing the case in person will enhance what the class does for the rest of the semester.

"Being there is a lot different than talking about it," she said, adding that she was surprised by how the judges and lawyers asked and answered questions back and forth. "Being able to see the judges and the lawyers and their dialogue gave us an interesting perspective."

Psychology major Serenity Phillips, from Galveston, said it was a unique experience.

"I'm a very visual person," she said. "Being able to see the proceedings, and hear the questions afterwards, was cool. It was interesting to talk to the judges themselves. An experience like this could help a lot of students solidify what they want to do. It can also give some other students new ideas of potential careers that they hadn't seen before."

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