Kris Kringle goes on trial in Sussex County
Santa Claus went on trial Dec. 11 in Sussex County.
The court provided three performances of the classic movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” starring real-life judges and attorneys.
With 260 students from Lulu Ross Elementary School in Milford and H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton on hand, Superior Court in Sussex County Courthouse was the scene of an abbreviated take on the 1947 movie that won a best supporting actor Academy Award for Edmund Gwenn, who played Kris Kringle.
And as in the movie, Kris Kringle, portrayed by Family Court Judge James McGriffin, was found competent. Defense attorney Jane Brady, retired Superior Court judge, convinced Judge Jan Jurden, Superior Court president judge, that Kringle was indeed Santa Claus.
The clincher was sacks of letters dumped on the judge’s desk written by children at Macy’s department store to Kringle. U.S. Postmaster Sean O’Sullivan testified under oath that the letters were sent to Santa Claus who exists because it’s a federal offense to falsify your identity to receive mail.
It also helped Brady’s case when the daughter of prosecutor Charles Coates, played by Janey Nagle, pointed him out as the person who told her there is a real Santa Claus.
The court has been performing the play for more than a decade.
The cast also included: Dr. Westover – attorney Rob Gibbs; Mrs. Macy – Ruby Harrington, judicial fellow; and bailiffs – Tony Summers and Ardany Coloma Ventura.
