It seemed like a slam dunk, convicting Goldilocks of burglary. After all, she entered the three bears’ house without permission. No one disputed that she ate baby bear’s food. And the prosecutor making the closing argument was none other than Law School Dean Kathleen Sullivan.
But maybe Goldilocks did not enter the house with the intent to eat the porridge. (Who would?) And maybe she meant to stick around to meet the bears, but they frightened her away.
Defense attorney (and law professor) Pamela Karlan, clad in tigers’ ears, sowed enough seeds of reasonable doubt that a jury of six youngsters acquitted the children’s-book heroine in a mock trial held as part of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The trial was the most popular of the 23 workshops offered across campus on April 24.
Sullivan didn’t think the verdict was just right. She suggested that Karlan had made “bearist” statements, emphasizing the homeowners’ guttural growls and scary snouts. “I played the species card,” Karlan confessed. “I’ll get you next time,” Sullivan promised.
Perhaps she should consider charging Goldilocks with petty theft porridge.
