Forensics & Criminal Justice classes combine to perform CSI investigation, mock trial

Mrs. Mackanin’s (also known as Mrs. Mack) forensics class led the investigation to find the culprit who vandalized a car of a member of the custodial staff, Mr. Matos, with the phrase “Hope She Was Worth It” in spray paint. After the investigation and once the forensics students completed DNA analyses identifying the possible criminals, Ms. Dizon’s law class conducted a mock trial, complete ...

Mrs. Mack’s students narrowed down a list of twelve possible suspects who could have been linked to the crime. They then determined who was present at the scene of the vandalism from five a.m. to three p.m. and recorded their findings in a daily log that was used to keep track of their progress. Students were given basic background information and found a hair sample, fingerprint, and a lipstick print...

The point of the science instructor’s investigation was to plant clues for each student to figure out who committed the crime, and the goal of the entire project was to allow students who are interested in forensics to get “a sense of the real-world problem that needs to be solved” by making the investigation as realistic as possible. She wanted her students to apply what they have learned th...

Just last week, Ms. Dizon’s criminal justice class took the case to trial to determine whether the physical education instructor was innocent or guilty. However, the jury concluded that she was not guilty and therefore, she was acquitted of the crime. To prove whether or not she committed the crime, a prosecution and defense team made up of Becton students called up witnesses and cross-examined...

The accused, Mr. Caputo, Mr. Matos, Mrs. Vaccaro, Mrs. Collins, Ms. Rodriguez, Mrs. Barroso-Ramirez, and a number of students from the forensics team, were called up to testify. Junior Maya Grabowski testified as if she was in court and described it as a nerve-wracking and real-life experience. She would like to one day pursue a career in criminal justice. Mrs. Collins, the school nurse, was t...

The defense claimed that at the time the crime took place, she went out on a jog and proceeded to eat lunch with her mother. Forensics student Dylan Valenzuela, a witness for the defense team, said in his testimony that the forensics team had “three handwriting samples but only one that matched Ms. O’s handwriting. Her lip print also matched the one found at the scene, but the fingerprint on t...

Mr. Caputo further convinced the jury of Ms. O’Driscoll's innocence when he said it could have been “one of his [Mr. Matos’] chicks,” since Mr. Matos was known to be a lady’s man. Mrs. Vaccaro further proved this information when she announced that not only did she see Ms. O go out for lunch, but she also saw tension arise between Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Matos. In addition, Mrs. Vaccaro saw M...

Through the hard work of the Cat's Eye View reporters, Noelia Moore and Aminah Iqbal, the public can be informed of this creative cross-curricular lesson, which was created and coordinated by Mrs. Mackanin and Ms. Dizon.