ANTIOCH — With metal detectors at the door and hundreds of people streaming in dressed in business attire, the Deer Valley High School theater became a courtroom Thursday as justices from the state's 1st District Court of Appeal heard oral arguments for two actual cases in front of 500 students, teachers and Antioch residents.

The justices — and attorneys for people involved in the cases — made the trip from San Francisco at the request of officials at the Deer Valley Law Academy, which opened this year within the larger high school. The academy's 110 freshmen students, as well as Deer Valley's senior government students, were in the audience Thursday.

During their appearance, the justices heard arguments from the attorneys in two pending legal disputes: The first was about the legality of a man's arrest after the car he was riding in was pulled over by police in San Francisco. The second concerned a teen girl's arrest when a police officer in Fairfield suspected her of prostitution.

Students had been studying the cases for eight weeks and were immersed in their facts, said Janet Muirragui, lead teacher at the law academy.

"It brings it home for them," she said.

Joseph Lindgren, 14, a freshman at the law academy, said he had expected that he and his classmates would "just kind of debate in the classroom." He said that sitting in on a hearing and talking one-on-one with the justices during a pretrial breakfast

"We got to see a lot of different perspectives from all four justices," Lindgren said.

After hearing the arguments, the justices fielded questions from the audience — some more "teenage" in nature than others. One student asked whether it was legal for police to enter a home during a party without permission or a warrant.

"It depends" was the overall answer from the justices as they explained how many factors come into play in any legal decision.

Another student asked the justices to explain how "reasonable suspicion" is determined.

"Different judges will watch the same witness testify and come up with different interpretations," Associate Justice Mark Simons said.

Administrators were thrilled with the event.

"It really gave the kids a much more work-based learning" experience, Co-Principal Clarence Isadore said.

Reach Hilary Costa at 925-779-7166.