Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni visits Birchland Park Middle School.
Reminder Publishing photo by Peter Tuohy
EAST LONGMEADOW — Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni visited Birchland Park Middle School’s eighth grade class in East Longmeadow to continue this year’s “Adopt-a-Class” program on Jan 6.
The program involves the Hampden District Attorney’s Office “adopting” three classes each year to offer them insight into the criminal justice system. Gulluni is also partnered with the Springfield Legacy Academy and Monson High School.
Gulluni’s initial school visit is an informative session about his responsibilities as DA, followed by a Q&A with the students. The program continues in several parts over the coming weeks through civics lessons and a student-run mock trial. The program concludes with a tour of the Hampden County Hall of Justice, where students may get the opportunity to witness a real trial in progress.
Birchland Park Principal Steve Pearson said the school was lucky enough to be one of three chosen for this year’s program.
“We have an excellent opportunity to get some real life experience on what it means to be a citizen of the United States and what our system of justice is all about,” Pearson said.
Gulluni told the students that they’ll have the opportunity to learn what they may see in shows like “Law and Order,” but from the actual experts in the courtroom everyday and not from the actors. He said shows like that aren’t typically realistic at all, yet he does recommend “The Lincoln Lawyer.”
For the mock trial, students will portray each role, such as a judge, defense lawyers, prosecutors, witnesses, the jury and police officers. Gulluni said that he hopes this opportunity helps the students learn and potentially aspire to follow one of those career paths moving forward.
“You’re really gonna get to learn from experts about how a trial works, and we hope it helps you learn,” Gulluni said. “This is all designed to get you guys to learn and understand what we do.”
Gulluni said that when he decided to run for DA, he wanted to do something positive for his community but many didn’t think he would win because he was young and may lack experience. He said that instead of listening, he worked hard and believed in himself, which the students should aspire to do as they get closer to high school and college.
“If you set your mind to something and you believe in yourself and you work hard, you can achieve whatever you want to achieve,” Gulluni said.
Gulluni also told students about the 27-year long investigation into the murder of 24-year-old Lisa Ziegert, which was solved in 2019. Ziegert was a teacher in Agawam with a second job at Brittany’s Card and Gift Shoppe, where she went missing on April 15, 1992. Her body was discovered four days later on April 19.
He said that when he came into office 11 years ago, he really wanted to solve that case.
“If someone you love was hurt, you would want to know what happened and why. You would want someone to be held accountable,” Gulluni said. “Her family desperately wanted answers, they wanted accountability, they wanted justice. That’s what I do and what the system strives for, which is justice.”
Gulluni said his office was able to use DNA preserved from 1992 to establish what the suspect may look like, which then led to a match with Gary Schara. Schara pleaded guilty to the murder in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
“So 25-plus years later, because of forensic technology, because of good police work, because of the work that my office did, we figured out what happened to Lisa Ziegert back in April of 1992,” Gulluni said. “Some of the best moments of my professional life, my jobs, were telling Lisa’s mother and father that we solved the case and that someone was going to be held accountable… that must have been really hard for them not having those answers.”
The visit ended with a lengthy Q&A session, where students asked Gulluni different questions about things like forensic testing, how to become a lawyer and the different types of cases.
Looking forward through the program, Gulluni will meet with the students twice more in the coming weeks, concluding with the private courthouse tour.
