Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Evidence and Juries
- "Juries are depended on making
decisions , groups make more
ratonale decisions, juries are
composed of no experience in
any area of making decisions"
- Jury Selection
Anmerkungen:
- Judicium parium-a guarantee to the right trial by one's peers- difficult to term what one peers means
- 18-70 year olds - not to be in disqualified categories: e.g mental health
- Random Selection from electoral role may not be fair- young and poor less likely to appear on electoral role
- "50% summoned
for jury duty fail to
attend"
- Marshall (1975) jury
is not necessary
impartial
Anmerkungen:
- Jurly characterstics influence how jurors respone to cases
- Gender difference in cases involving rape, child abuse and sexual harrassment
Jurors with positive attitudes about death sentences most likely convict -race ages and previous jury duties
Individual differences play a role
- Jury Influence
Anmerkungen:
- pre-trial publicity, indamissble evidence, retracked confessions
These variables influcence jurors even if the judge says ignore it
- Defendant attractiveness, socio-economic status- extra-evidental factor is more likely if cases are weak
>if these extra-factoral influences are strong can the jurors be seen as reliable?
Juries are influenced by eyewitiness testimony found to underestimate reliabilty of eyewitness testimoney
- Mechanisms for Jury Bias
Anmerkungen:
- USA- voir dire process
-UK challenges aboloshied though criminal act 1988_so hardly ever happens
- Juries have probles understanding defining legal definition, Juror share poor recall of trial information
Recall gets worse when complexity of evidence increasing helps if they have clear logical story line "storytelling"
- Presenting Evidence
Anmerkungen:
- most effective witness of trial is the beginning and end of trial-important feature- central action to which characterstics, objects, and events clearly connect
- Good stories have phsycial and psychological conditions and goals- events and situation are revaled to help listner make sense of strong
-,make sense there is credibilty but only makes sens to listeners social understanding-personal experiences as evidence
- Examination in Chief
Anmerkungen:
- -must present witness consistent with story order- reveal event- glean all information from them
examination simple and logical
ask open ended questions
if confusion; ask witness to clarity so do not lose thread of story
exhibit emphasis points made by witnesses
- Cross examination
Anmerkungen:
- Cast doubt on other side's witness's
be kind to others side witnesses
questions should have purpose- ask in spirit of enquiry not hostility. Not looking for witness assistance questions should be short
Ask best questions first and last- jurors likely to remember ''primacy and recency"
- Closing arguements
Anmerkungen:
- chronological oder of evidence-reinforce story
McCoullgh (1994) exository approach- compares two opposing views on same issues - also gives jurors who blieve your story line an arguement during deliberation
- Jury deliberation
Anmerkungen:
- Jurors may have already decaled before deliberation -Jurors are interessted in consensus not accuracy
: evidence type jury deliberated (if there is reasonable doubt)
:verdict driven jury - condcut first ballot before deliberation
Whether either type depends on criteria
- The Verdict
Anmerkungen:
- Kalven and Ziesal (1966)
Knowing judges preferred verdict improved prediction of juries decision by only 27%
Juries seem to be more inclined to acquite than judges.
McCane and Purves (1974)
shadow jury technique - Juries do not seem to be reliable. Black victims more likely to be victimes of perverse convictions
- Empathy and Jurors Decision in Patricide Trials
involving Child Assault Allegations (Hegerich and Bottoms, 2000)
- Empathy
Anmerkungen:
- a multidimensial construct having both affective and cognitive components
Trait empathy and State empathy
Trait empathy- fairly stable individual differences in people's general ability to emphasize with others
State empathy-is empathy that has been temporarily prompted or elicited by a stimulus in the social environment (through perspective taking or actively engagin in role-playing behaviour)
- Trait
- State
- Situationally induced
empathy "child abuse"
- Gender inlfuence empathy
Anmerkungen:
- -Women more empathetic then men in child abuse case?
More empathetic more liniency?
"Many men find child abuse less serious crime than women"
"Men find child abuse victims less credibe and and they are less likely to convict defendents accused of child sexual abuse"
- Discussion/Results
- Empathy and Juror
Anmerkungen:
- Jurors's case related judgment are affected when an attorney asks them to identify affectively and cognitively with a defendtant. Jurors in control condition, jurors in empathy condition had more empathy for the defendant, were more lenient in their guilt judgemens, considered the defendent to be less responsible for the killing and were more lilkely to think abuse was a mitigating factor in the trial
- empathy for another involves understanding what it would be like to be in the other place, which may lead to feelings of similiarity with the other person
Empathy did not effect jurors perceptions of defendents credibilty nor beliefs that the alleged abuse occurred. Jurors can feel epathic and less punitive toward a defendant without necessarily believing the defendant more or less
- Women are more lenient
in their verdics and
consdered the defendant
more cridible and less
responsible for the murder
Anmerkungen:
- more pro-abuse victim tteh men when abuse victimed is accused
women appear to be more likely than men to believe that chronic abuse (either against children or against romantic partners)