I never expected to be in the center of the most watched court case in American history. Yet, somehow, my life changed, and it all started when I joined Pinewood’s Model United Nations.
As I sat down for a normal meeting, the lights cut out in the room. Glass shattered all around us as the door was kicked down. Men in FBI vests stormed into the room and placed MUN advisor Sophie Williams into handcuffs. It was then that I heard these fateful words: “Sophie Williams, you are under arrest for counterfeiting.”
“I was simply trying to copy from a new book on the Industrial Revolution,” Williams said, claiming that the counterfeiting charge had been a big misunderstanding.
Williams had downloaded a copy of the novel off the internet to provide students with an additional resource following dismal grades on the last AP World History test. Prosecutors are arguing that the website she illegally downloaded the book from delivered an extra thousand copies that Williams has been illegally selling to the Pinewood community.
Williams, who is now out on bail, is preparing students from the MUN team to present her defense in front of twelve jurors at the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco next week.
Sophomores Jack Hollenbeck, Mailey Wang and I were chosen to lead Williams’ defense team. While Hollenbeck tried to get to the bottom of what really happened with Williams’ charges, Wang and I tried to find records and evidence to defend our client. Williams is paying handsomely in the form of a guaranteed A on our upcoming AP World test, a much needed assist for all three attorneys.
“This is obviously a very emotional issue for the Pinewood community,” Wang said.
The day of the case had finally arrived, and Hollenbeck, Wang and I prepared for the biggest day in the history of Pinewood School, knowing we held the fate of the school’s legacy in our palms.
“It’s almost like we’re a president, or even, a former president,” Hollenback quipped as we stepped into the courtroom surrounded by cameras and flashing lights.
Whether he was commenting on the press attention or the fact that we were in the middle of a criminal prosecution remains unclear.
After two weeks of testimony, evidence and courtroom drama, the jury finally returned from their deliberations.
“The moment they returned with ‘not guilty,’ I felt a wave of relief rush over me, knowing that my AP World grade is safe, at least until the next test,” Wang said.
Williams is now a free woman, returning to teach at Pinewood less than a week after she avoided life in prison.
“I’m just glad to be back at Pinewood,” Williams said. She is now cutting the Industrial Revolution unit from her curriculum.
