Jury Decision Making - Lecture 6

Question 1

How many people form a jury in England and Wales?

Answer 1

12 people

Question 2

How many people form a jury in Scotland?

Answer 2

15 people

Question 3

How long MUST a jury try to reach a unanimous verdict?

Answer 3

2 hours

Question 4

After 2 hours, what majority will be accepted?

Answer 4

10-2

Question 5

If a 10-2 verdict is not reached, what is the jury called?

Answer 5

A hung jury

Question 6

In what percentage of criminal trials is trial by jury used? And in what type of cases?

Answer 6

In 2% of trials and for cases where the accused has pleaded not guilty

Question 7

Where is expert testimony on the factors influencing eyewitness evidence more common?

Answer 7

More common in the US than in the UK

Question 8

When does expert testimony have more impact?

Answer 8

It has more impact when evidence is complicated (Cooper et al, 1996)

Question 9

Judges may rule expert testimony as inadmissible or jurors may discount expert testimony. Why?

Answer 9

1. Tells us nothing new
2. It is based on laboratory studies
3. Eyewitness account is too compelling

Question 10

Do jurors rely heavily on witness’ confidence? If so, why?

Answer 10

Yes they do, to infer accuracy

Question 11

What is the reality about confidence and accuracy?

Answer 11

Confidence is a poor indicator of accuracy.

Question 12

What did Penrod and Cutler (1995) report?

Answer 12

Jurors had a tendency to ‘over-believe’ eyewitness testimonies.
They are not sensitive to factors that influence accuracy.
Rely on confidence assessments of witnesses (this can be influenced by post-identification information).
Expert testimony can reduce this reliance on confidence (Loftus, 2010)

Question 13

What did Wright and Skagerberg, 2007 conclude about eyewitness confidence?

Answer 13

That it is malleable

Question 14

What study did they undertake?

Answer 14

134 real eyewitnesses attending UK police identification suite were involved.
Following parade, witness said how confident they were in their decision.
Witness was then told outcome of their identification.
Witness again rated their confidence
Feedback about identification decision affected witness’ confidence (those that had picked the suspect became more confident)

Question 15

Does attractiveness play role in the length of sentence?

Answer 15

According to Sigall and Ostrove (1975), physically attractive defendants received lower sentences based on a mock case using photographs.
According to Saladin et al (1988), using 8 photos, attractive men were considered less capable of committing a crime, but moderated by crime severity.
According to Stewart (1980), attractive, clean, neat and well dressed defendants received lower sentences, but it had no effect on the verdict.
According to Kerr (1978), attractive victims are more frequently supported by guilty verdicts.

Question 16

How do jurors reach a verdict?

Answer 16

Pennington and Hastie (1986, 1982) introduced the story model - jurors constructed a story-like account to organise and interpret evidence that they hear.
These sotries fit with the juror’s general knowledge about structure of stories (eg. coherence and consistency) and their beliefs and expectations of how the legal system works.
Juror’s decision is based upon an evaluation of how plausible and complete the story is.
If done early on, there will be a bias towards evaluating subsequent evidence in light of story they have constructed (confirmation bias).

Question 17

Who invented the dual-process theory?

Answer 17

Eagly and Chaiken, 1993.

Question 18

What are the two processes?

Answer 18

Systematic and Heuristic

Question 19

What is systematic processing?

Answer 19

Slower and more effortful thinking when the juror closely scrutinises and analyses the evidence

Question 20

What is heuristic processing?

Answer 20

Faster, more automatic thinking which involves less detailed scrutiny of evidence.
eg. “There is no smoke without fire” or “Experts can be trusted”.

Question 21

What did Carlson and Russo (2001) say about the story model?

Answer 21

That it is the best account but that all stories will be different (because of influence of prior beliefs etc) and this may impact on outcomes made by juries.

Question 22

What four things make up the complexity of evidence?

Answer 22

Complexity of evidence
Number of witnesses
Length of trial
Number of charges

Question 23

What makes up the quality of information?

Answer 23

Number of documents
Number of items in evidence
Number of parties involved (eg. complaints)

Question 24

When is heuristic processing favoured/used?

Answer 24

When people are tired, pressured for time, evidence is complex or there is a lack of knowledge on the topic.

Question 25

When is systematic processing used?

Answer 25

When the presentation of evidence is simplified.

Question 26

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 26

The tendency for people to seek information that is consistent with their beliefs but to discount information that is inconsistent with their beliefs. Honess and Charman (2002) - "Once jurors have made up their mind, they stop thinking about the evidence too hard".

Question 27

Are stereotypes a contributing factor?

Answer 27

Mazzella and Feingold (1994) underwent a study where participants had to read a scenario of a criminal case about a black or white defendant. They reported no overall effect of race on guilt, but that there was a difference in severity of punishment deemed appropriate. Greater punishment for blacks than whites for negligent homicides. Greater punishment for whites than blacks for fraud. Gordon, Bindrim and McNicholas and Walden (1988) said that defendants are dealt with more harshly when their crime is stereotypical of their race.

Question 28

In the UK, what does the Contempt of Court Act (1981) do?

Answer 28

It makes it an offence to publish anything that leads to substantial risk that the criminal justice proceedings will be prejudiced.

Question 29

What is an example of a retrial?

Answer 29

A judge reordered a retrial of two LEeds United players accused of assaulting an Asian student. Just before trial, the Sunday Mirror ran an interview where the victim's father said he thought it was racially motivated. Several jurors had seen this and the judge believed therefore that it would make the verdict unsafe because of the 'substantial risk of prejudice'. Studebacker and Penrod (1997) say that finding a truly independent location for trial may be impossible.

Question 30

What did Bomstein et al (2002) find when they exposed participants to negative pre-trial publicity?

Answer 30

That they were more likely to judge defendant guilty than participants exposed to less or no negative pre-trail publicity. Mock jurors were presented with a lawsuit against a chemical company for causing ovarian cancer. The participants either received: factual info, negative info about plaintiff or negative info about chemical company (defendant) Factual info - 46% found chemical company liable Negative info about plaintiff - 25% found company liable Negative info about chemical company - 75% found company liable

Question 31

What is the purpose of adopting decision-making rules?

Answer 31

It transforms diversity into a group decision (Stasser, Kerr and Davis 1989)

Question 32

What are the four types of group decision making?

Answer 32

1. Unanimity 2. Majority Wins 3. Truth wins 4. Two-thirds majority

Question 33

What is unanimity?

Answer 33

A discussion that puts pressure on deviants to conform

Question 34

What is majority wins?

Answer 34

Discussion that confirms majority position, which becomes group decision.

Question 35

What is truth wins?

Answer 35

Discussion reveals position that is demonstrably correct

Question 36

What is two-thirds majority?

Answer 36

Discussion establishes a two thirds majority and becomes group decision

Question 37

What can unanimity do to the group atmosphere and decision-making process?

Answer 37

May create a pleasant atmosphere but may make decision making v slow

Question 38

What can majority wins do to the group atmosphere and decision-making process?

Answer 38

May make group members feel dissatisfied but can speed up decision making

Question 39

When can jury decision-making go wrong?

Answer 39

Janis (1972) - Groupthink where a group adopts a way of thinking in which the desire for consensus overrides all else, individuals may be pressured to change their opinions or suppress voicing the minority opinion to create a consensus. May lead jurors to ignoring evidence which is inconsistent with consensus.

Question 40

When is this likely to happen?

Answer 40

When the group is isolated, under stress and when they lack an open-minded leader.

Question 41

What can groupthink lead to?

Answer 41

Ignoring contradictory information, pressure to conform and use of stereotyping

Question 42

Who is the foreman?

Answer 42

The nominated member to be a spokesman.

Question 43

What does research show to suggest why a specific foreman may be chosen (Devine et al, 2001)?

Answer 43

They are of higher economic status Have prior experience in jury service Simply sit in seat at head of table when jurors meet Tend to be male and white