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Unlike the version held this week, John Brown's trial in 1859 wasn't interrupted by a cell phone ring.
His actions also weren't compared at the time to Osama Bin Laden, but that's the kind of thought-provoking debate that organizers from Woodstream Christian Academy in Mitchellville and the Prince George's County Memorial Library System were hoping to create Saturday by combining the worlds of 1859 and 2009 for the academy's debate students.
At a mock trial held at the Bowie Library, Woodstream students played the roles of the prosecution and defense of Brown, an American abolitionist who became famous for the unsuccessful raid on Harpers Ferry, W.Va., where he tried to encourage slaves to rebel and escape.
During the debate, students discussed whether, by today's standards, Brown — portrayed by Don Steenhagen of Dover, Del. — would have been considered a freedom-fighter or a terrorist.
The trial was organized by Douglas Kump, Woodstream Christian's director of debate, and Douglas Adolphsen, head of adult services for the Prince George's County Memorial Library System.
The students went through about a month of intensive training, Kump said, including study the court system and the Brown case.
"It gave the students a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole legal process," he said. Kump said the students were not familiar with the details of the events of Harpers Ferry until they began preparing for the trial. "They got a chance to re-evaluate an important period of our history."
Adolphsen said the idea came about when he worked with the academy in February to organize a reenactment of the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. He was hoping to organize a program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Harpers Ferry raid, which started Oct. 25, 1959, and concluded Nov. 2.
"We wanted to mix ideas from both 1859 and from 2009 and create a debate which would get people thinking," said Adolphsen.
Woodstream senior Alisah Talley played the role of prosecutor, arguing that Brown was a ruthless vigilante. She faced off against student Candice Brown, who portrayed the defense attorney and called several student actors to testify.
Student Nichole English, portraying Harriet Tubman; classmate Arthur Mcune, portraying Frederick Douglass; and students portraying a slave and a former slave trader testified about the horrors of slavery and why Brown's actions were justifiable.
Gary Grisdale, who worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified for the prosecution, and said he believes that according to the law, Brown would be considered a terrorist.
The mock trial was presided over by Judge William D. Missouri, of the Seventh Circuit in Prince George's County, who called the event "a great educational tool."
Twelve randomly chosen members of the audience were chosen to be jurors, with Missouri noting that the jury wasn't historically accurate because a jury in 1859 would not have African-Americans or women.
The jury found Brown not guilty of treason or of murder. The jury was split six-to-six in finding Brown not guilty of inciting slaves to rebel.
"To think, some people out there are hoping to get out of jury duty," Missouri joked.
