Palmerton and Marian High School students had the chance to rub elbows with the American judiciary process Friday morning in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's declared Law Day.

The Carbon County Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division, led by Chairman Adam Weaver, sponsored the 33rd annual Mock Trial hosted at the Jim Thorpe courthouse."It takes a lot of hard work to prepare for any trial," Weaver told the audience.Before the case was presented, county President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II, and Judges Joseph J. Matika and Steven R. Serfass, addressed students."There are three burdens of proof the jury is charged to look for," Nanovic said. "Clear and convincing evidence, proof beyond a reasonable doubt and fact finding or evidence."The jury has to be extremely sure. The law errs in favor of the guilty so an innocent person isn't sentenced," Nanovic said.Students asked if a judge can ever overrule a jury's decision."It's very rare, but in civil suits, yes a judge can overrule," Matika said."The court really respects what the jury decides," Nanovic said. "It's better for everyone involved for the jury to come to a decision. For a criminal case the verdict must be unanimous, but in a civil case it can be 10 of 12 jurors," Nanovic said.When asked if being a judge is stressful, the trio agreed that appreciation and respect for the job outweighs the stress."I feel comfortable when I've made a decision. There is no question that the decisions have lifetime impacts and that is a heck of a weight. But it has to be done by someone. It takes a lot of work," Nanovic said."You do the research and think through the issues before making a decision. Custody cases are hard. Those decisions will affect these young people for the rest of their lives," Serfass said. "After those cases where parents are fighting and the children are miserable I go home and am thankful for the family I have."Nanovic agreed, saying, "I've had cases that change the way I think about different issues."The casePalmerton students Lauren Fegely, Jake Taylor and Jonathan Blichar acted as the defense while Marian students Sarah Berube, Deaynna Koskulitz and Patrick Darrough, proceeded as the plaintiff's attorneys before Magisterial District Justice William Kissner of Palmerton and Weatherly Magisterial District Justice Joseph Homanko Sr.The case, written by Jonathan A. Grode, Paul W. Kaufman, both of Philadelphia, and Stanford University student Talia Charme-Zane, centered on an insurance claim.The synopsis: Stacey Earhart was hired by a Natural Habitat Preserve for a project to restore and improve the land. The preserve had a long-standing cooperative relationship with the local Hunt Club which had donated funds to the preserve throughout the years.Earhart's work placed her in an adversarial position with the Hunt Club's prominent family, the Yeagers. The youngest Yeager, Steven, had no regard for the new designated hunting boundaries and was seen trespassing several times into roped-off work areas.Earhart had purchased a drone during her time at the preserve and had added a camera to the aircraft. When Earhart learned Yeager had once again trespassed into restricted areas she flew the drone to get photographic evidence of Yeager on the off-limits land.While attempting to get the pictures, the drone flew close to Yeager, spooking his horse and causing him to be thrown, resulting in Yeager's paralysis.The preserve's insurance company, Lilienthal Insurance Inc., brought Earhart to court to prove she violated the insurance conditions and therefore the company was not liable to pay for Yeager's expenses.The mock trialSix witnesses, portrayed by students, were called to the stand and sworn in by a court clerk before testifying in the trial."We had to study the affidavit and the science that was relevant to the case," said Palmerton's Riley Zelienk, who played an expert engineering witness."But we don't know what they are going to ask," she said.Hannah Pepper of Palmerton acted as defendant Earhart for the case."I think it went really well," she said as the jury retired to deliberate the facts."We know our parts and you just have to do what you can with the questions," Pepper said.The jury, consisting of students from each school, returned with a verdict siding in favor of the insurance company. The selected foreman cited intent to cause physical injury for the reason behind the decision, handing Marian the trial win."We had a lot of after-school practices," Koskulitz said.Palmerton's team came away more determined to win in the future."We'll just have to come back strong next year," Taylor said."This was a complicated case for high school students," Weaver said. "We would love for more schools to get involved next year."