Forensic Psych Exam Flashcards
how many conviction offences can be tried without a jury and what are they?
1.misdemeanours
/summary offences
2. indictable/felony
3. hybrid offences
what are misdemeanours?
minor offences with a max jail time of 6 months (possessions of marijuana)
what are indictable/felony offences?
max penalty is life sentence (crown prosecutor has to give okay for this kind of trial)
what does no limitation period mean?
any point following offence, a person can be charged and convicted
how are hybrid offences decided?
left at the discretion of the crown with which offence they want to proceed with (effected by complexity of the case and the offenders record)
what kind of offences are the bulk of cases in Canada?
hybrid
what do summary offences have the right to and not to?
right to: judge alone
not right to: judge and jury
what do indictable offences have the right to?
judge alone and judge and jury
what are the three parts of selecting a jury?
- selection from a list of citizens
- part of the Jury Pool
- Selected for Jury
is jury pool participation mandated by law?
yes
what are some excuses of jury duty?
financial hardships
caregiver responsibilities
health concerns
what is a challenge for cause?
prosecutor can object to a particular juror if they believe there is a reason why the oerson should not be permitted to serve as a jury member
what are peremptory challenges?
not wanting a jury member without reason (not longer allowed since 2019)
what is representativeness of a jury?
needs to represent the community where the crime occurred
what is impartiality of a jury?
need to be unbiased, only influenced by evidence presented in courts
how many jurors are there in criminal cases and how are decisions made?
12 and 95% unanimous decision
how many jurors are there in civil cases and how are decisions made?
6 and need 5 jurors on the same verdict
what happens if a jury cannot agree?
that jury is dismissed and panel a new jury
what is the CSI effect on jurors?
jurors will be biased from viewing forensic related televisions
what has research shown about the CSI effect?
a pro defence bias (less likely to convict somebody without the presence of sophisticated forensic evidence and jurors demonstrate less confidence in convictition
what is Pretrial Publicity’s effect on jurors?
negative pretrial in the news increases the number of guilty verdicts
what has research shown about pretrial publicity?
studies have shown that mock jurors who were exposed to pretrial publicity were more likely to reach a guilty verdict and have errors in their memory
what are 4 methods to maximize impartiality
- change in venue
- adjournment
- challenge for cause
- publication ban
what is change in venue? (maximizing impartiality)
moving the trial to a different community other than one where the crime occured
what is adjournment (maximizing impartiality)
delaying the trial will eliminate any biases
what is challenge for cause (maximizing impartiality)
potentially reject biased jurors
what is publication ban (maximizing impartiality?
judges can enact a ban on the case evidence until the end of trial, no media source is allowed to report any evidence of the trial
what are 5 jury functions?
- wisdom of 12, not 1
- conscience of the community
- protect against outdated laws
- increase knwoledge about justice system
- apply the law provided by the judge
what is jury nullification?
when they choose to ignore the law and use other criteria for the verdict (might occur when laws are out of date or the jury believed that the law is unfair given the circumstances)
what are four methods used to study juror/jury behaviour?
- post-trial interviews
- archives (previously recorded transcripts)
- simulations
- field studies
what did Lieberman & Sales say about judges instructions?
jurors do not remember or accurately apply judicial instructions
what are the four reforms for judges’ instructions?
- rewrite instructions
- written copy of instructions
- pre and post evidence instructions
- lawyers clarifying instructions
when is evidence instructed to be disregarded?
when it is redundant or misleading
what is the backfire effect?
evidence becomes more memorable when told to be disregarded
what are cognitive perspectives of disregarding inadmissible evidence?
already heavy cognitive demands on jurors and its another cognitive task when asked to dismiss/suppress evidence
what are motivational perspectives of disregarding inadmissible evidence
jurors are strongly motivated to prioritize just outcomes over do process
what type of inadmissible evidence do jurors tend to still use and not use?
use: evidence that was inadmissible due to procedural concerns
not use: unreliable evidence
what are the 3 stages of group process jury decision-making
- orientation
- open conflict
- reconciliation
explain stage 1: orientation
jurors are approaching the deliberation in one of two ways:
1. verdict (guilt or not)
2. evidence (deliberate then poll)
explain stage 2: open conflict
two kinds of influences
1. normative (conform to groups)
2. influential (wisdom of the group)
what is Leniency bias?
occurs when jurors move toward greater leniency following deliberation
what is Polarization?
occurs when following the group deliberation, individuals will become more extreme in thier initial position
what are mathematical models in jury decision making?
jury decision making is made up of a set of mental calculations; mathematical weight to pieces of evidence, do up equation, and deliver the outcome
what are explanation models of jury decision making?
attempt to construct the evidence into a cohesive whole; story models and narrative frameworks
what model do jurors typically use in decision making?
explanation models
what are two juror comprehension aids?
- note-taking
- asking questions
is there typically high agreement between the jury decision and what the judge would decide?
yes
what did Kovera find about verdict agreements in criminal cases?
75-91% verdict agreement
who are more likely to convict, juries or judges?
juries
what did Kovera find about verdict agreement in civil cases?
64-85% verdict agreement
what did Hans find about judges and juries on their assessments of scientific evidence?
both made similar assessments of reliability, both found evidence difficult to follow, similar level of comprehension of evidence
what are the 6 variables known to influence a jury’s verdict?
- demographic characteristics of jurors
- personality traits of jurors
- attitudes of jurors
- defendant characteristics
- victim characteristics
- expert testimony
what is vicarious trauma effect?
not being directly exposed to but are experiencing it vicariously through images/videos
what did Salerno find about black and white vs colour evidence photos?
increased guilty verdicts via elicitation of disgust and no bias in b&w photos
what percentage of former jurors reported emotional upset due to trial? ANTONIO
60%; 30% had symptoms of PTSD
what percentage of former jurors had trauma related symptoms? LONERGAN et AL
50%
what are the 8 jury stressors? (Bornstein et al and Lonergan et al)
- complexity of the trial
- decisions making
- longer trials
- gender differences (women over men)
- being sequestered (lonely)
- fear of retaliation
- limited compensation
- graphic evidence and testimonies
what is the difference between expert and fact witnesses?
expert witnesses provide opinions on the facts while fact witnesses can only provide info on what they observed or know as a fact
examples of expert witnesses
academic psychologists, practicing clinical psychologists, and clinical forensic psychologists
what are the functions of an expert witness?
aid the triers, jurors, and judges on a particular subject related to the case
what are 5 common issues that a psychologists may provide an expert opinion on
- fitness to stand trial/ criminal responsibility
- sentencing
- eyewitness identification
- trial procedure
- psychological damages in civil cases
explain opinions a psychologist might provide for fitness and criminal responsibility
determining someone is of sound mind, tried as an adult or minor
explain opinions a psychologist might provide for sentencing
about prospect of the defendants rehabilitation, risk of reoffendning
explain opinions a psychologist might provide for eyewitness identification
reliability of testimony, memory, decisions making during a juror deliberation and potential influences; child witnesses capacity to remember
explain opinions a psychologist might provide for trial procedure
what effects are associated with different trial procedures, like safeguards when it is a child testifying vs an adult
explain opinions a psychologist might provide for psychological damages in civil cases
what are the psychological consequences that an individual may have suffered from another persons actions and any pre-existing issues
what are some ethical issues of providing expert testimony?
- providing non-partisan opinions
- not an advocate for either side
- avoid working solely for one-side
- not going beyond psychological science
what are non-partisan opinions?
not bringing politics into the court room, solely source of info, not their own opinion
what did Houseman v Sewell find regarding expert testimony?
concerns about experts not providing honest opinion and advocacy effects
what did R v Lavalle find about providing expert testomony?
idea that expert testimony is unnecessary; they can’t provide info beyond what is common sense
