jury decision making + pretrial publicity

Question 1

what is pretrial publicity?

Answer 1

• the media coverage of a case before the trial takes place
• jury members will have read or heard about a case that has had a lot of publicity

Question 2

positive petrial publicity

Answer 2

information that portrays the defendant in a respectable light

Question 3

negative pretrial publicity

Answer 3

information that portrays the defendent in a bad light

Question 4

what is factual pretrial publicity?

Answer 4

publicity containing incriminating information about the defendant

Question 5

what is emotional pretrial publicity?

Answer 5

publicity containing incriminating information likely to arouse negative emotiond

Question 6

why is PTP a problem in jury decision making?

Answer 6

• PTP can often lead to schema’s being created about the defendant in trial = leads to errors in memory and confusing the PTP as a memory of the trial, influencing the jurors’ judgment
• bias/ sensational reporting might evoke strong emotion like anger, fesr or sympathy = skews jurors’ judgement away from the evidence presented during the trial
• social media can plify the problem - jurors may intentionally encounter prejudicial information during the trial, despite instructions to avoid media coverage
• the misinformation ffect could occur - when misleading or incorrect information presented after an event distorts a person’s memory of that event

Question 7

how do we reduce the impact of pretrial publicity?

Answer 7

• the court can move the trial to a different location where a community has had less exposure to the case
• select jurors who have not been affected by publicity
• delay the start of the trial with the hope that the effects of PTP will decrease as time passes since the last exposure to the prejudicial media
• courts can impose restrictions on media coverage in the courtroom or prevent certain types of coverage - e,g, cameras in the courtroom
• use the voir dire process

Question 8

what is voir dire and how can it be used to reduce PTP?

Answer 8

• voir dire is a legal process used during jury selection in a trial to evaluate the suitability of potential jurors
• in the uk, it is used to decide what evidence can and cannot be used presented during the trial ( CONDUCTED BEFORE THE TRIAL)
• during jury selection, attorneys can ask potential jurors about their exposure to pretrial publicity and whether it would affect their ability to be impartial. Jurors who may be influenced by such coverage can be dismissed from the jury pool

Question 9

what 3 factors influence jury verdicts?

Answer 9

• gender
• race
• attractiveness

Question 10

what is the halo effect?

Answer 10

wherepeople tend to attribute socially desirable personality traits to physically attractive individuals

Question 11

how can attractiveness influence jury verdicts?

Answer 11

• attractive defendants are treated better than unattractive ones in gaining acquital, lighter sentences and the sympathy of the jury
• juries may use their schemas based on the media, which portrays attractive people as the heroes and unattractive people as the villains
• stereotypically, unattractive people are deemed more likely to be criminals and so recieve harsher sentences, whereas attractive people are seen as less likely to be criminals and so recieve lighter sentences

Question 12

how can gender influence jury verdicts?

Answer 12

• jurors see female defendants as more believable than male defendants, as males commit more high risk crimes and having high re-offending rates that women - mccoy and Gray 2007
• female defendants are often mothers with primary responsibility for their children which makes them seem unlikely to commit a serious crime and/or be treated leniently by the court
• male and female jurors might differ in their interpretation of evidence and their attitudes toward defendants or victims, influenced by personal experiences or societal expectations
• in gender related crimes, gender roles and biases may play a significant role in verdict outcomes

Question 13

how can race influence jury verdicts?

Answer 13

• studies have found that that white jurors are more likely to find a black defendant guilty compared to a white one
• black defendants also receive harsher sentences than a white defendant for the same crime
• racial stereotypes can influence how jurors view the defendant’s intentions, behavior, and likelihood of reoffending
• the racial makeup of the jury can influence deliberations and outcomes, with diverse juries often showing more thorough discussions and reduced biases compared to homogenous ones

Question 14

information about jurors

Answer 14

• attorneys are allowed to eliminate as many potential jurors as they’d like as long as they give a reason for their decision
• lawyers tend to rely on implicit personality theories and cultural stereotypes in order to form their impressions on others
• the occupation of a person is an important influence factor for slecting a juror

Question 15

how does jury selection differ in different countries?

Answer 15

In canada, two potential jurors are selected by lay triers at a time and voire dire is confucted on them, if there is a mutual agreement that the pontential jurors are important, they become official jurors

Question 16

shadow juries

Answer 16

• a group of people who sit in (usually in a public gallery) on a real life trial and make their decisions based on what they see
• decision making is carefully monitered and the group of people are taken to a quiet room where all deliberations take place
• the shadow jury would watch trials and report their impressions of the evidence presented, to make a verdict on whether the defendant is guilt / not guilty

Question 17

mock jury

Answer 17

• re-enactments of a courtroom, in which participants would participate in a staged trial and each person takes a different role
• participants are asked to consider the case and make judgements based on the evidence presented in written, summarised scenaarios
• sometimes a jury will then discuss the case in a separate room

Question 18

what are the strengths of a mock jury?

Answer 18

• large samples can be used = high validity, as data is less likely to be skewed
• allows you to fully operationalise the IV, allowing you to find cause and affect
• variabes can also be controlled, allowing you to find cause and effect

Question 19

what are the weaknesses of a mock jury?

Answer 19

• the sample often uses university students, as they have more flexibility = low generalisability, as its not representative of what a real jury could look like
• the trials presented are artificial and less complex (some trials last for months)
• unrealistic participant variables - participants may not act in the same way in a mock jury, when they kno their decision won’t actually decide a person’s fate
• transcripts and video clips are mainly used = less pressure and responsiblity on the jury

Question 20

what are the weaknesses of a shadow jury?

Answer 20

• the sample often uses university students, as they have more flexibility = low generalisability, as its not representative of what a real jury could look like
• there is a lack of control over variables, so it’s harder to find cause and effect

Question 21

what are the strengths of a shadow jury?

Answer 21

• high external validity
• shadow jurys are a more thical way to test JDM