Chapter 4 Review Questions Flashcards
What is the significance of Jenkins v. U.S. to forensic psychology?
-ruled “lack of medical degree did not automatically disqualify psychologists from providing expert testimony on the issue of mental disorder”
What are main steps and stages of judicial process?
PRETRIAL
-arraignment (formal charges read, pleas entered) (psychologists employed to screen for issues that can be dealt with in problem-solving courts)
- discovery process (each side makes available information at their disposal to the other side)
- deposition (potential witnesses questioned underoath)
TRIAL
- bench trial/trial by jury
- voir dire (jury selection) (consultation)
DISPOSITION
-sentencing (risk assessment)
APPELATE
- appeals
- amicus briefs
Distinguish between tasks psychologists might perform in scientific jury selection and in witness preparation.
JURY SELECTION
- attitude surveys
- focus groups
- community member interviews
- research strategies
WITNESS PREPARATION
- reduce courtroom-related stresses
- witness education
- attorney education
- modification of testimony delivery
Why is the forensic psychologist’s participation in witness preparation controversial?
- witness memory is extremely fallible
- they must be aware of any suggestive questioning
- trial consulting is largely unregulated
List three findings from research on the influence of expert testimony on jurors.
- asking expert opinion suggests great weight will be placed on their opinion, when it is the judge/jury’s actual decision (fear of influence on fact-finder)
- clinical testimony is favored over research-based testimony
- jurors/judges cannot differentiate between valid & flawed research or importance of control groups and sample sizes
Thus far, what has research shown about the effects of the Daubert standard on the admission of expert testimony?
-reliability of evidence has been examined more carefully since Daubert standard, and more evidence has been found unreliable
Identify the cases in the Daubert trilogy, and state the key holding or rule in each one.
-Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 1993
General Electric Co. v. Joiner, 1997
Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 1999
(articulate standard to be applied to federal courts in deciding whether expert testimony should be admitted if it is challenged by the opposing lawyer)
Summarize each side of the argument as to whether an expert should provide an opinion on the “ultimate issue.”
OPPOSE
- highly subject to error
- fear of influence on fact-finder
- offering opinion suggest great weight will be placed, when it is not their ultimate decision
FOR
-APA neither encourage/discourage, just that observations, inferences, and ocnclusions mustbe distinguished from legal factcs, opinions, and conclusions
