The Maine Supreme Judicial Court hears appeals on three cases Tuesday at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. From left are Associate Justices Rick E. Lawrence, Andrew M. Horton and Andrew M. Mead, Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill and Associate Justices Joseph M. Jabar and Catherine R. Connors. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

PARIS — Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School hosted the six Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices this week as part of a longstanding tradition of bringing their work to students to witness the judicial system firsthand.

Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill and Associate Justices Rick E. Lawrence, Andrew M. Horton, Andrew M. Mead, Joseph M. Jabar and Catherine R. Connors heard three appeals from two criminal cases and one civil case in the Forum of the school on Main Street. For more than three hours state prosecutors and defense attorneys presented their arguments.

The first criminal case involved domestic violence between two partners. One of them was found guilty of a misdemeanor. He appealed the conviction on grounds his attorney was denied chances to personally question potential jurors about experiences with domestic violence and whether any had gender bias on the topic of domestic violence, and the trial judge not allowing a series of text messages to be presented to the jury.

The second criminal case involved a 58-year-old driver education instructor who was found guilty of gross sexual assault against an 18-year-old high school student in his class due to his position of authority. He appealed on grounds he did not fit the criteria of a teacher, employee or other official of the school where the classes took place.

The civil case was between Northern Light Health and an employee whose personal information was stolen and used to siphon her paycheck from her bank account to a fraudulent one set up by the hackers. The employee won, claiming Northern Light could not assert that they had dutifully paid her for completed work when she never received her pay.

State Rep. Sawin Millett of Waterford and Social Studies Department Chairman John Pinto worked with representatives of court to coordinate the visit.

To prepare students for the proceedings, Norway attorney Ted Dillworth volunteered to talk to history and government classes the past couple of weeks.

“We made sure to have junior students here, as their history classes are focused on American history and government,” Principal Paul Bickford said. “We also invited seniors who are taking an AP government and politics class. And we expanded participation to students in our other history classes as well. So there is a range of nine through 12 students, but our main focus is on 11th grade.”

Oxford County Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne moderates a discussion Tuesday with students and staff about cases being heard by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

During the recess between hearings, Oxford County Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne moderated question-and-answer sessions for students and educators. The justices also interacted with students, explaining laws and how certain ones could or could not be applied to the cases before them.

“I’ve never sat in court like this,” junior Jane Leonard of Norway said at the end of the hearings. “I didn’t really expect it to be this way, but it was very interesting.”

“It’s about what I thought it would be, but I was surprised the Supreme Court would come to our high school,” Camden Colby, a senior from Norway, said. “I had never seen a court proceeding. It was very cool.”

The students agreed that the justices were equally tough on both sides with their questions.

“If I was trying to present my case, I’d be very nervous about it,” Leonard said. “Being questioned like that, it seems difficult. But they definitely got down to everything well.”

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School junior Jane Leonard and senior Camden Colby attend the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s hearings Tuesday at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

“Both parties seemed to have really good arguments,” Colby added.

“Workers should be paid their wages,” he said of the civil case involving an employee’s stolen pay.

Leonard said of the sexual assault caes, “To me, the instructor was [guilty]. He had a role at the school, and he was in the school.”

“I believe he was the authority (of the class), through the school,” Colby added.

Regarding the domestic violence case, both students agreed the defense was unfairly denied an opportunity to interview jurors and have the victim’s text messages presented to the jury.

The court’s rulings on the appeals will be decided later.