Forensic Psych Review Flashcards
What are summary offences entitled?
right to a judge along, no right to a judge and jury
What are the 3 kinds of offences as conceptualized by Canada
- Misdemeanours/Summary Offences
- Indictable/Felony Offences
- Hybrid Offences
what are indictable offences entitled to?
right to a judge alone and a judge and jury
how many jurors are there and how are decisions made in summary offences?
6 jurors; majority decision
how many jurors are there and how are decisions made in indictable offences?
12 jurors; unanimous decision
what are the two necessary characteristics of a jury?
- Representativeness (needs to represent the community in which the crime took place)
- Impartiality (needs to be un biased and only influenced by evidence presented in court)
what are the 4 ways to maximize impartiality?
- change in venue
- adjournment
- publication ban
- challenge for cause
what is the process of jury selection?
- selection from a list of citizens
- part of a jury pool
- selected for jury
what are the 5 functions of a jury
- wisdom of 12
- conscience of the community
- protect against outdated laws
- increase knowledge about JS
- apply the law provided by the judge
what are the 4 methods of researching jury behaviour?
- post trial interviews
- archives
- simulation
- field studies
what are the two models of jury decision-making?
Mathematical Models
Explanation Models
explain mathematical models
jury decision making is made up of a set of mental calculations, mathematical weight is applied to pieces of evidence, do up an equation, and deliver outcomes
explain explanation models
attempt to construct the evidence into a cohesive whole, story/narrative framework
describe stage 1 of jury decisions making
Orientation: approaching deliberation in one of 2 ways
1. verdict (initial poll)
2. evidence (deliberate, then poll)
describe stage 2 of jury decision making
Open Conflict: two kinds of influences
1. normative (conforming to the group)
2. influential (believing that the rest of the group must be right and you must have missed something)
explain stage 3 of jury decision-making
jury tries to be satisfied with the verdict and can be influenced by:
Polarization: occurs when the following a group discussion, individuals will become more extreme than their initial position
Leniency Bias: occurs wen jurors move toward greater leniency following deliberation
identify the influence of judges instructions to ignore evidence on a jury
jurors will disregard evidence when they are provided with a logical and legitimate reason for the judges decision
what is the CSI effect?
jurors or perspective jurors will be biased from viewing forensic related television
what is the influence of the CSI effect?
research has shown that a pro defence bias and possesses less confidence to convict
what is the backfire effect?
evidence becomes more memorable when it is told to be dismissed
what are cognitive perspectives of the backfire effect
the jurors already have a heavy cognitive load and it is another task to be asked to dismiss or suppress evidence
what are motivational perspective of the backfire effect?
jurors are strongly motivated to prioritize just outcomes over do process
what is the level of agreement within criminal cases?
75-91%; juries are more likely to convict than judges
what is the level of agreement within civil cases?
64-85%
what is the level of agreement in personal injury cases?
judges are more likely to award punitive damages than juries
what is the level of agreement in non-personal injury cases?
juries award more punitive damages than judges
what are the two dispositional factors that a jury possesses that can influence decision-making?
Personality and attitudes
what personality traits of jurors can influence decision making?
jurors wit higher authoritarianism and dogmatism tend to confer guilty verdicts
what attitudes of jurors can influence decision making?
attitudes towards capitol punishments, death qualified attitudes are more important than general attitudes
what is the vicarious trauma effect?
not being directly exposed to but are experiencing it vicariously through images and videos
what percentage of former jurors reported emotional upset post trial?
60%; 30% had symptoms of PTSD
what percentage of former jurors had trauma-related symptoms?
50%
what are the 8 jury stressors?
- complexity of trial
- decision making
- longer trials
- gender differences
- being sequestered
- fear of retaliation
- limited compensation
- graphic evidence and testimonies
define the general acceptance test
in order for novel scientific evidence to be admissible, it must be established that procedures used to arrive at the testimony are generally accepted in the scientific community
describe the ways wherein expert witnesses differ from fact/regular witnesses
expert witnesses are providing opinions on the facts while fact witnesses can only provide info on what they observed or know to be true
what are the two functions of an expert witness
- provide an expert opinion on some form of specialized knowledge, education, or training
- aid the triers, jury, and judge on a particular subject related to the case that is beyond the average juror
what are the 10 issues which an expert witness can provide testimony
- fitness and criminal responsibility
- sentencing
- eyewitness identification
- trial procedure
- civil commitment, guardianship, and conservatorship
- psychological damages in civil cases
- class action suites
- child custody, adoption, termination of parental rights
- professional malpractice
- social issues in litigation
what are the three approaches that an expert witness can take to resolve the limits of science and expert opinion (SAKS)
- the conduit educator
- the philosopher-rules/advocate
- the hired gun
explain the conduit educator
first priority is their own field and understanding every perspective of their own field (TRUTH AND INTEGRITY)
explain the philosopher-rules/advocate
views themselves as an advocate and that it is more important than telling the truth, only presents research that is in accordance with their ‘side; ONE SIDED
explain the hired gun
favouring one side and serving their employers values rather than facing their own opinions based on logic and science
DO WHAT THEIR EMPLOYERS WANT
what is the Mohan Criteria for expert testimony
states that the testimony must:
be relevant
assist the trier fact
not violate any rules of exclusion
be provided by a qualified expert
what are the two Canadian cases reflecting judicial concern with expert testimony
- Houseman v Sewell
- R v Lavalle
what significance did Houseman v Sewell pose
concerns about experts not providing honest opinion, advocacy effects
what significance did R v Lavalle pose?
concerns that expert testimony is unnecessary and that they can’d provide info beyond what is commons sense
what are ethical challenges for expert testimony?
non-partisan opinions
not an advocate or decision-maker
avoid working for one-side
not going beyond the science
what is expert testimony necessary? (Kutler & Kovera)
many areas that the judiciary have been assumed are within common sense knowledge while most triers of the fact have been discounted by research
what kinds of evidence is most compelling to jurors?
evidence linked directly to the trial is more influential than expert evidence
clear links are more influential
qualitative over quantitative
define adversarial allegiance
the tendency for forensic evaluators to form opinions in a manner that better supports the party that retains them
what are the necessary traits within the Daubert criteria
be peer reviewed
be testable
have a known error rate
adhere to professional standards
what are the top 4 causes of wrongful convictions
- inaccurate eyewitness identification/biased procedures
- sloppy laboratory procedures
- false confession
- over-reliance on jailhouse informants and snitches
what are the 11 causes of wrongful convictions
- inaccurate eyewitness identification/biased procedures
- overzealous or unethical police/prosecutors
- over reliance on jailhouse informants and snitches
- tunnel vision and confirmation bias by investigators
- incompetent/ineffective defence lawyers
- judges who show bias towards favouring prosecution in rulings
- perjury by witnesses, jailhouse informants, and forensic examiners
- sloppy laboratory procedures
- Junk science
- pressure to solve high profile cases
- false confessions
identify various criminal justice professional estimate errors in the CJS
police and prosecutors estimated low error rates while judges and defence lawyers were more inclined to acknowledge that some degree or error occurs
identify which criminal justice professional most frequently call for procedural change
Defence lawyers (91.6%)
