test 2 Flashcards
Canada Evidence Act:
that children testimony was now admissible and that only had to promise they would tell the truth. (Bill c-2).
Recall for events (questioning children)
capable of accurately recalling forensically relevant details of events . Accuracy highly dependent on how they are asked to report
Free recall (questioning child witness)
narrative accuracy(telling hat happened)
same as for adults, but children provide much less information than adults. (because of underdeveloped frontal lobe)
leading questions produce error (to please/change answer to fit questions of what “adult” is saying) is fabrication.
direct questioning (child witness)
requiring a yes/no answer
(“did you have a good time” )
no space for questioning and expansion. should be avoided and promote free recall.
Suggestibility
kids being socialized to comply. Respond in the way the interviewer wants (trust in adults) which leads to fabrication even if original memory is still there.
Social compliance: (children witness)
respond in a way the interviewer wants. They trust and want to cooperate with adult interviewers. Memory of event remains intact
Cognitive changes (children witness)
unlikely to have a memory prior to age 2. children may report on an event they heard about as if they had experienced it themselves
Children false positive responding:
the researchers reasoned that of children produce a higher false positive rate with familiar targets, their responding would reflect a greater influence of social factors than cognitive factors
hippocampus
critical for memory formation
brain activity in frontal lobes is associated with __
episodic memory
brain activity in temporal lobes is associated with ___
semantic memory
Anatomically detailed dolls:
consistent with male or female anatomy may have difficulty verbalizing what occurred. allows children to demonstrate the events from their experience. Directed questioning
problems with anatomically detailed dolls:
uses directed questioning (“can you show me where they hurt you- assuming something happened). No standards for manufacture- each law enforcement can have one but there’s no research to how children play with them (no standard procedures for assessing interactions with dolls). No studies show how abused vs. non-abused kids play with the dolls. What is just “play” and what is complying with what interviewer wants? Enacting social behaviours shouldn’t be for young children (under 2 ) but thers no proof because of lack of research. Not good for children too old (13) because they feel it is too “childish”.
Criterion-based content analysis (CBCA):
goal to distinguish truthful vs. false statements.
Details of actual events more likely to fulfill the CBCA criteria
problems with Criterion-based content analysis:
age of child affects score on CBCA, scores subject to interviewer’s opinion, what is a truthful criterion? (interviewer decided if its true by the amount of detail told. Young children (cognitively) give less detail and older kids then have their testaments be more “truthful” because they have more cognitive brain development. Therefore, - not ideal for young children
Stepwise interview:
start interview with free narrative & then proceed to more specific questions.
Restricted to wh-questions (who, what, where, etc) : based on free narrative (children’s original story) -very broad to very narrow. Accuracy is good. Good for all kids that can verbalize
stepwise interview problems
takes times, patience for child, attention of child, etc
Narrative elaboration
teaches children to organize stories into relevant categories using picture cards. more accurate recall of information & no fabrication. Interviewer treats it like a game (for those that like it). Child is trained on how to use the method (how to play the “game”) and then makes child do it. No evidence of fabrication. Very accurate. For visualy inclined children or young children. Can also draw events.
Courtroom accommodations/ protections: (for child witness)
- Separation from defendant: shield or screen. CCTV. support person in attendance (to make them feel calm)
used to prevent triggers/influence - Admissible evidence: pre-recorded interview (if child can’t be there) statements from initial disclosure (original testimony with police)
- Publication ban: closed to public and/or media: names not available (victims, witness, etc)
Physical abuse:
Deliberate use of force that leads to injury
Sexual abuse:
Use of child by an adult for sexual purposes (fondling, penetration, exhibitionism, exploitation)
Neglect/failure to provide:
Caregivers fail to provide basic needs that affects child’s emotional, psychological, and/or physical development (nutrition, shelter, safety from harm)
Emotional maltreatment:
Caregivers behaviour that affects child’s emotional, psychological, and/or cognitive development (threats, social isolation, intimidation, exploitation)
Incidence: (child maltreatment)
number of new children maltreatment cases in a specific population occurring in a given time period (usually a year)
Prevalence: (child maltreatment)
in the study of child abuse, the proportion of a population at a specific point in time that was maltreated during childhood
risk factors for physical abuse
Child factors: male
Parental factors :
Young maternal age
Single-parent status
History of childhood physical abuse
Spousal assault
Unplanned pregnancy or negative attitude toward pregnancy
History of substance abuse
Social isolation or lack of social support
Social factors: Low socioeconomic status
Large family size
risk factors of sexual abuse
Child factor: Female
Parental factors: Living in a family without a biological parent
Poor relationship between parents
Presence of a stepfather
Poor child-parent relations
short term effects of physical abuse
Perceptual-motor deficits
Perceptual-motor deficits
Lower intellectual functioning
Lower academic achievement
Aggression
Hopelessness
Depression
long term effects of phsycial abuse
Non-familial & familial violence
Abuse of own children
Inflicting & receiving dating/spousal violence
short term effect of sexual abuse
Behaviour problems
Low self-esteem
Inappropriate sexuality
PTSD symptoms
Sleep disturbances
Eating disorders
Stomach disorders
Headaches
long term effects of sexual abuse
Reduced hippocampal volume
Increased risk of being sexually abused as adults
Depression
Self-harm
Anxiety
Interpersonal distrust
three categories of outcomes in adults with a history of childhood sexual abuse:
(PTSD)
- Psychiatric disorders
- Dysfunctional behaviours
- Neurobiological dysregulation
Adults who were sexually abused as children increase risk of ___
being sexually assaulted as adults.
Suicide attempts were twice as likely among both men and women who reported experiencing child sexual abuse compared ____
with those who had not reported experiencing it.
Bill C-15A in 2002
that makes it a criminal offence to use the internet to communicate with a child for the purpose of committing sexual acts. Maximum five-year prison sentence.
Spectrum of normality to abnormality:
some behaviours are problematic in some contexts
(homicide= murder but war is justified because of context which it happens in)
In united states, at least ___ have more than one mental illness when they are incardinated.
75%
Mentally ill offenders:
Exhibiting “deviant” behaviour are more likely to get law enforcement called on them. Thoughts and behaviours are more disorganized so easier to be caught by officers. More likely to plead guilty- no representation, don’t understand consequences
Recidivism
If conditional release is granted, those with major mental illness are not more likely to commit future crimes, especially violent crimes, but there is a bias against mentally ill offenders
- 2x as likely to return to criminal justice system
- 43% chance of re-arrest (e.g., schizophrenia)
- 46% chance of re-arrest (e.g., substance abuse)
- 2x as likely to be re-arrested if history of past violent crimes
Substance abuse is the biggest predictor of violent crime/ recidivism.
What is antisocial personality disorder (APD)?
a persistent pattern of disregard for and violation of others’ rights, beginning in childhood or early adolescence (against others with intent to cause harm)
Begins in childhood and continues into adulthood
* failure to conform to norms
* failure to conform to lawful behaviour
* lack of remorse
* deceitful, irritable, irresponsible
* manipulative
Does not mean they will be violent/ criminal. Not diagnosed before 18. They don’t care about right and wrong. The clues are in children who have conduct disorder (children who struggle with obeying rules/ don’t feel guilt) disorder develops for a reason but choosing to harm others is a choice and that’s when it becomes problematic.
Features of psychopathy with APD
Prevalence in prisons
Up to 80% of adult offenders diagnosed with APD
Most offenders diagnosed with APD are not psychopaths
Nearly all psychopathic offenders meet the diagnostic criteria for APD
Psychopathy:
(10% - 25%) of people in prison will also have psychopathy. This is the link to violence. They will recommit those crimes if released and will engage in more violence.
how is psychopathy different from sociopathy
Antisocial tendencies because of environmental factors (e.g., poor parenting) - not a term used by clinical psychologists or in the empirical (research) literature
Sociopathy:
a label used to describe a person whose psychopathic traits are assumes to be due to environmental factors
Psychopathy in the workplace: ( why some people in great power succeed)
*positive/negative characteristics
Positive characteristics
* Creative
* Strategic thinking
* Communication skills
Negative characteristics
* Less likely to be team player
* Poor management skills
* Toxic environment
Psychopathy and violence
Development of criminal behaviour
* starts at a younger age
* persists for longer
* is more likely to be violent
* will occur even while in an institution or correctional facility
* more likely to be granted early release, but criminal behaviour more likely to reoccur
Instrumental violence
associated with a goal, organized, more likely to target strangers. Something they want
Reactive violence
impulsive, emotional, more likely to target people known to offender. Less organized. Outburst/reaction
Sexual violence
- higher psychopathy scores in those who commit sexual homicide or sexual sadism
three main types of criminal behaviour
instrumental violence, reactive violence, sexual violence
rapist
: emotional distress, feel bad, know what they’re doing is wrong
Psychopathy with sexual violence: excitement, harm causes joy, seek out that feeling
Sexual sadism :
people who are sexually aroused by fantasies, urges, or acts of inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on another person
Psychopathy and the legal system
(Interrogation methods)
What works in an interrogation: You need to be aware of this disorder. Make them feel intelligent, that you admire them. But you have to be experienced, confident,c an not show weakness
- What does not work in an interrogation: mock them, mention the victim, etc
- Psychopath’s behaviour during interrogation
Psychopathy and the legal system
(Sentencing decisions)
Sentencing severity depends on psychopathy score. Can be administrated to someone who hasn’t had anti-social behaviour diagnoses yet. Higher the score= most likely. How reliable is it/ or how the person is?
Psychopathy and the legal system
(Treatment)
- Problems with diagnosis
- Research on treatment is inconclusive
- Age and context are factors: people under 18 (have hope)- teaching how to empathize in a supportive treatment facility instead of a punitive one.
Adversarial allegiance :
tendency for forensic experts to be biased toward the side that hired them
Key points of Charles Manson documentary:
- Mothers’ rejection: wanted her love
- Petty crime through life
- Raped and beaten in school
- Jail all his life
- Developed way of looking at world in prison (raised in “truth” of prison)
- Asked not to be released from jail
- Family of his own was appealing for him
- Manson heard about hippie San Francisco
- Sized up people quickly/ accurately from prison skills
- Knew how to find desperate people
- Moving around kept people interested
- Got control with drugs : “drug programing”
- There is no right and wrong idea
- He did not want to die
- Other people have guilt, feel bad but he does not
What is schizophrenia (Sz)?
Among the most puzzling & disabling clinical syndromes and it touches every facet of an afflicted person’s life
schizophrenic episodes
Acute episodes characterized by:
* delusions
* hallucinations
* illogical thinking
* incoherent speech
* bizarre behaviour
Between episodes, people may still be:
* unable to think clearly
* may lack appropriate emotional responses to people & events in their lives
population with scizophrenia
1 % of population is diagnosed with this. In prison 1% are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Usually emerges in late adulthood. Managed with medication.
The neuroscience of Sz
Schizophrenia
* thinner prefrontal cortex
* decreased neural activation patterns in fMRI studies
* strong genetic link
Neuroscience of APD
Antisocial personality disorder
* thinner prefrontal cortex
* decreased neural activation patterns in fMRI studies
* brain activity shows no distinction between emotional & non-emotional information
* impaired fear recognition (in others)
* impaired at picking up on other emotional cues
* failure to pay attention to contextual information that could inhibit behaviour
* brain damage
* weak to moderate genetic link
* lower parental warmth & attachment
* criminal parent
* uninvolved father (if a son)
* physical neglect
* abuse
Two elements that must be present for criminal guilt to be established
- wrongful deed (actus reus)
- criminal intent (mens rea)
Fitness to stand trial:
Does the defendant understand the charges and proceedings?
A person may be found unfit to stand trial if they are experiencing psychosis and they lack the ability to understand the situation, cannot communicate with the lawyer, and cannot tell the facts (of the events)
(The burden of proof lies with the party who raises the issue)
Unfit to stand trial:
: refers to an inability to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings on account of a person’s mental disorder.
unfit to stand trial prior to enactment of Bill C-30:
- Whether the defendant is mute of malice (intentionally)
- Whether the defendant has sufficient cognitive capacity to understand the trial proceeding
- Whether the defendant can please to the indictment
unfit to stand trial after enactment of Bill C-30:
unable on account of mental disorder to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings before a verdict is rendered or to instruct counsel to do so and in particular, unable on account of mental disorder to
a)understand the nature or object of the proceedings
b) understand the possible consequences of the proceedings or
c) communicate with counsel
refered to ncrdm (fitness to stand trial) - not criminally responsible
Referred:
More likely to live alone
Current violent offence
Diagnosis of psychosis
Previous hospitalization
Unemployed (or less resources)
Older (60 +)
Female
Minority
not refered refered to ncrdm (fitness to stand trial)
Not referred:
More likely to have been married
Previous arrests
Substance abuse problems
No history of hospitalization
Employed
Court-Ordered Assessment
A defendant can be held for a court-ordered fitness evaluation for 5 days
* extension: 30 days
* total detention: 60 days maximum
Evaluations must be conducted by medical practitioners (not psychologists).
Fitness instruments:
tests (screenings) developed to help evaluators quickly screen out defendants who are competent to stand trial.
- Competency screening test and competency to stand trial assessment instrument
- unfit defendants were most to be unmarried. Belonging to a minority group and single. Differences between competent and incompetent defendants were found in employment status, psychiatric. Diagnosis, ethnicity, criminal charges. Incompetent defendants were less likely to maintain employment and had more serious mental illness than competent compared with Caucasian defendants.
-
Insanity (1800)
Impairment of mental/emotional functioning that affects perception, beliefs, motivations at time of the offence
- Defendant must be found suffering from a defect of reason/ disease of the mind
- Defendant must not know the nature and quality of the act he or she is preforming
- Defendant must not know what he or she is doing wrong
Roger’s criminal responsibility assessment scales (test for insanity):
- Patient reliability
- Organicity
- Psychopathology
- Cognitive control
- Behavioural control
NCRMD (1992)
Not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder
How often is the insanity defence used?
Less than 1% of the time
How successful is the insanity defence?
25% of those who argue insanity defence succeed when both prosecution and defence agree to such a verdict
Both sides must agree for the outcome. Raised less than 1 % of the time and less that 25% win.
Absolute discharge
Defendant released into community without restrictions on their behaviour
Conditional discharge (open to review)
like parole.
Defendant released with restrictions on their behaviour(ex. Don’t possess firearms)
* failure to meet conditions may lead to incarceration or treatment at psychiatric facility
what does the review board evaluate to decide fitness
There is a great deal that review boards (those who decide if fit) consider. This includes:
- charge information
- trial transcript
- criminal history
- risk assessment
- clinical history, such as previous admission to hospital
- psychological testing
- hospital recommendation
Capping:
notion introduced through Bill c-30 where there is a maximum period a person with a mental illness could be affected by his or her disposition
Held in institution. Usually maximum time (10 years) but after review can still be involuntarily committed if deemed dangerous (high risk to reoffend, mentally unstable)
Four main criteria considered when deciding a disposition:
- public safety
- mental state of the defendant
- reintegration of the defendant into society
- other needs to see defendant
What to do with mentally ill offenders?
Offenders who experience acute mental illness are sent to one of five regional psychiatric hospitals in Canda. Unfortunately, there are virtually no options if an offender does not meet hospital admission criteria but suffers mental illness.
Neocortex:
higher mental functions, general movement, perception and behavioural responses
Amygdala:
emotional responses; aggressive behavior.
Hippocampus:
: memory of new information and recent events
Corpus striatum:
: (formerly basal ganglia) connection between cerebral cortex and cerebellum; helps regulate automatic movement.
General Aggression Model
(look at demonstration in notes)
a framework that explains aggression by examining how personal and situational factors influence an individual’s internal state (cognition, affect, and arousal), which in turn affects appraisal and decision-making processes, ultimately leading to aggressive or non-aggressive behaviors.
Development of criminal behaviour
- starts at a younger age
- persists for longer
- is more likely to be violent
- will occur even while in an institution or correctional facility
- more likely to be granted early release, but criminal behaviour more likely to reoccur
Homicide (Canadian criminal law)
The killing of one person to another
Reactive (Affective/Emotional) homocide
Impulsive, unplanned, immediate, driven by negative emotions, in response to perceived provocation
(most likely to involve people known to perpetrator)
Instrumental (Predatory) homicide
Proactive and premeditated, calculated, motivated by some goal (money, power, sex)
(most likely to be strangers)
First-degree murder:
: life parole-25 years
Planned and deliberate murder, in addition to the murder of law enforcement officers, correctional staff, or murder committed during another violent offence (e.g., sexual assault)
Second-degree murder :
life parole – 10 years
Any murder that is not first-degree murder (can be deliberate, but unplanned)
Ex. Tying up homeowners during a robbery and one of them dies
Manslaughter :
prohibition to life (depends on is there a pattern, do they have a criminal record, first offence?…)
Unintentional murder in “heat of passion” or due to criminal negligence (ex. driving under the influence)
Infanticide :
Killing of a baby
Filicide :
: killing of a child. Deep seeded frustration.
filicide with mother as perpatrator
When baby’s are born to young mother without support that child is most at risk. Post partum psychosis( intrusive thoughts/ violent behaviour to child. Result of break with reality with mental illness)
filicide with father as perpatrator
Desire to harm. Frustration (taking it out on infant). History of violence/abuse.
Uxoricide (femicide) :
the killing of the female spouse by male spouse. Likely to happen when male believes there is infidelity, history of violence, male feels they’re going to lose control over their female partner (say they’re going to leave/ actually left). Often male will suicide after killing spouse. Another situation fathers believe they have failed because of financial or other shame so they murder entire family to save them from the “shame” and then suicide.
Androcide (matricide) :
female murders husband. Typically, because of prolonged abuse they’ve experienced/ self defense/ threat to children. Less likely to commit suicide
mass murder
one event with as many victims as possible. Perpetrator has identified categories of victims that mean something to them and want to harm them. Their goal is to commit suicide before they get caught, but secretly hope they get killed by law enforcement, so they don’t have to take accountability. (terrorism, school shootings, etc)
serial murder (types included)
visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic,
power/control) : two and more with pause in between. 95% of time its male. There are females too but they don’t usually get caught.
Visionary serial murderer
kills in response to voices/visions telling him to
Mission oriented serial murderer :
targets individuals from a group that he or she considers undesirable
Hedonistic serial murderer:
motivated by self grartification. Divided in three subtypes; lust, thrill, comfort ( material/financial gain)
Power/ control serial murderer:
dominance over victim( but not usually sexually )
what model is best for catching serial murders
Organized/disorganized
male serial killer characteristics
Tend to have prior criminal history
Only 25% have an accomplice
More likely to use firearm, or strangle, or stab their victims
More likely to kill for sexual gratification or control
More likely to kill strangers
More geographically mobile
female serial killer characteristics
Tend not to have prior criminal history
About 50% have an accomplice
More likely to use poison
More likely to kill for money
More likely to kill family members
More place-specific
Most common type of women serial killers:
Black widows: marry and kill them
Angel of death: nurse kills them- want to look like a saviour, feel patient should have to be alive (to suffer)
Sexual assault & sexual homicide
Any nonconsensual sexual act by a person to a person, regardless of the relationship between the people involved (underage, married, change their mind through it and the person does not stop)
Simple sexual assault (Level 1)
Assault of a sexual nature
involving a violation of the sexual integrity of the victim
Max. sentence: 10 years
Sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm
(Level 2)
Sexual assault involving a weapon, bodily harm or threats to cause bodily harm to a third party
Max. sentence: 14 years
Aggravated sexual assault
(Level 3)
Sexual assault involving wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering the life of the victim Max. sentence: Life
No contact sexual offenders:
voyers and exhibitionists
Voyeurs:
someone who obtains sexual gratification by observing unsuspecting people, usually strangers, who are naked or in process of undressing or engaging in sexual activity
Exhibitionists :
exposing genitals or themselves to others for sexual gratification
contact sexual offender
rapist, pedo,molester
Rapists:
person who sexually assaults victims over 16 years of age
Pedophile:
person whose primary sexual orientation is toward children. An intra- familial family foes it to kids for whom he assumes parental role. Also known as incest offenders
Molesters (not pedophilia) .
physical contact
Finkelhor’s theory of child molesting (four conditions that must be met)
- Motivated by sexual abuse .a) Emotional congruence ( offenders desire for child to satisfy emotional need) b)sexual attraction to child c) blockage of emotional outlets for offender to meet sexual and emotional needs
- Lack of internal inhibitors. Alcohol, impulse control , etc
- Offenders lack of external inhibitors. For example, offender might need to create opportunities to encourage child to cooperate or need to be alone with child
- Offender must overcome child’s resistance. Rewards or bribes. Or threat of harm
Precondition model of child molestation
Motivation to assault and lack of impulse control can create opportunities for assault to occur . Tries to create opportunities to be alone with child. Know they’re actions are wrong but lack impulse control (“don’t tell anyone”)
Integrated model of sexual aggression
Socialization teaches inhibition of sexual urges, but dysfunctional childhood leads to a failure in acquiring inhibition. If they grew up where aggression was norm/ rewarded or misogyny was normal wasn’t showed to them. Or if they were themselves victims of sexual abuse.
Evolutionary theory
Is there a reproductive advantage to force others to mate? (could result in pregnancy) Very little evidence to support this.
Rape trauma syndrome -
acute crisis phase: phase immediately following after event
* protracted phase : months to years after event
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories (seeing someone wearing same shirt, same area of town, etc)
- Persistent avoidance of stimuli (try to avoid that area)
- Negative alterations in cognitions and moods
- Alterations in arousal and reactivity (excess of cortisol. Only see threats and negative information)
Classification of sexual offenders
Groth’s Rapist Typology (1979)
anger, power, sadistic
Revised Rapist Typology Ver. 3 (MTC: R3)
opportunistic, pervasively angry, sexual, sadistic, vindictive offenders
opportunistic offenders
- impulsive
- situational context
- no gratuitous violence
- no sexual fantasies
Ex. drunk at a party and assaulting them because they can’t consent or fight back
ervasively angry offenders
impulsive
* anger directed at men & women
* unnecessary force
* causes serious injury
* no sexual fantasies
sexual offenders
- not impulsive
- motivated by sexual fantasies
sadistic offenders
- not impulsive
- enjoys inflicting pain on victims
- can be motivated by sexual fantasy
- link to psychopathy
vindictive offender
- not impulsive
- anger directed solely at women
- no sexual fantasies
- goal is to demean & degrade the
victim
Female sexual offenders
Statistically under reported. Victims are not as likely to come forward. Often masked under care giving. Less likely to be reported because victim feels they caused the behaviour and/or they won’t be believed.
predisposed female sexual offenders
- Initiates sexual abuse alone and has deviant sexual fantasies
- Victims are often own children
- Was often assaulted themselves as a child
male coerced female sexual offenders
- Forced into sexual abuse by an abusive male (they are unwilling participants) . fear they will be harmed if they do not participate
- Victims is typically offender’s own daughter
male accomponied female sexual offenders
- Engage in sexual abuse with a male partner (they are willing participants or instigators)
- Victims inside and outside the family
Teacher/lover female sexual offenders
- Initiate sexual abuse of a male adolescent to whom they relate as a peer (and report being “in love” with victim)
- Victims often report they participated voluntarily (also feel they are “in love”)
- Offenders don’t realize what they’re doing is wrong and victim may not feel they’re be assaulted
Positive (stimulus presented)
Reinforcement:
Behaviour increases
Punishment:
Behaviour decreases
Negative (stimulus removed)
Reinforcement:
Behaviour increases
Punishment:
Behaviour decreases
Civil cases (torts):
Less jurors in civil trails 96 to 8 members). Verdicts do not have to be unanimous
Criminal cases:
More jurors in criminal trails (12 members). Verdicts must be unanimous
Jury selection in Quebec
Who can serve?
Any Canadian citizen age 18 and over who is registered on the list of electors.
Jury selection in Quebec
Who can’t serve?
- Judges and Officers of the court (& their spouses)
- MPs and MNAs (& their spouses)
- Members of Privy Council, the Senate,
members of the Conseil executive (& their spouses) - Police officers (& their spouses) and fire
fighters - Practicing lawyers or notaries
- Coroners
- Persons afflicted with a mental disability or
a mental illness - Persons not sufficiently fluent in French or
English - Persons charged with or convicted of a
criminal offence (& their spouses)
Exemptions from jury duty
- Public servant in administration of justice (& their spouses)
- Members of the Canadian Regular Forces * Personnel of the National Assembly
- Ministers of religion
- Persons aged 65 or older (& their spouses) * Persons suffering from physical or sensory
handicap - Persons whose health or domestic
obligations are incompatible with serving
on a jury - Persons who have served or been chosen
for jury duty in the past 5 years preceding
their current summons - Any other reason deemed reasonable by
the sheriff
Ignoring a summons : (jury selection)
Liable to penal proceedings
Juror rights:
Employment (can’t be fired). Accommodation and allowances (compensation-salary, job, etc. Accommodation -hotel, etc, allowance for psychotherapy)
Peremptory challenge
Rejection of jurors based on how it will affect verdict. Either side can reject
Jury nullification:
occurs when a jury ignores the law and the evidence, rendering a verdict based on some other criteria
Chaos theory:
: theory that when jurors are guided by their emotions and personal biases rather than by the law, chaos in judgment results
Function of a jury
- To use the wisdom of 12 to reach a verdict (less pressure on one person- typically judge)
- To act as the conscience of the community
(ex. Robert Latimer which reexamine cases plus opened medical assistance for dying) - To protect against out-of-date laws ( ex. Dr. Henry Morgentaler – abortion laws)
- To increase knowledge about the justice system
Criminal trials have 12- person juries. If you are selected from the juror pool, you will be a juror unless one of the lawyers presents a challenge. Two types of challenges:
peremptory challenge and challenge for cause. The crown/ defense can use a peremptory challenge to reject jurors who they believe are unlikely to reach a verdict in their favour. The lawyer does not need to provide reason for rejecting prospective juror.
In murder trials, each side has 20 peremptory challenges, whereas for most other crimes each side has 12.
Lawyers have limited info about jurors:
name, address, occupation, physical demeanour. Lawyers are not allowed to ask questions to gain more information on them.
Cases heard by juries:
Some defendants are given an option of a jury trial, but they may opt to be tried by judge alone.
There are three types of offences:
- Summary offence:
- Indictable offence:
- Hybrid offence:
summary offence
involve a sentence of fewer than six months in prison and a fine of less than 2000$. Involve fewer than six months for most cases (some up to 18 months). Does not have right to trial by jury.
Indictable offence
a serious criminal charge, carrying potentially severe penalties, that can be tried by a judge or by a judge and jury. Less serious offences are heard by judge sitting alone. For some, the defendant has option to choose
(1) to be tried by a provincial territorial court judge without a jury and without having preliminary inquiry,
(2) to have a preliminary inquiry and to be tried by a judge without a jury, or
3) to have a preliminary inquiry and to be tried by a judge and a jury
Hybrid offence:
a cross between indictable offences and summary offences. Maximum sentence is five years in prison if they proceed by indictment. If the crown proceeds summarily, the maximum penalty is 6 months, or 18 months in some cases, such as sexual assault.
The supreme court of indicated two fundamental characteristics of juries:
Representativeness and Impartiality
Representativeness
A jury composition that represents the community where the crime occurred
* Random selection of 100 names from a directory or voter registration
* Not truly representative: underrepresentation of homeless individuals, of individuals living in indigenous communities/reserves
(especially in cases against these people)
- Crown/ defense may challenge composition of jury arguing that it does not represent community on some characteristic (ex. No women, race…)
Impartiality :
a characteristic of jurors who are unbiased
* Must set aside pre-existing biases and prejudices (sometimes does not get disclosed)
* Must ignore information that is not part of admissible evidence (information still heard regardless)
* No connection to the defendant
Issues to address impartiality:
- change of venue: moving a trial to a community other than the one in which the crime occurred
- Adjournment: delaying the trial
- Challenge for cause: an option to reject biased jurors
- Pretrial publicity (whether negative or positive) affects defendant and attorney
Juries act:
provincial and territorial legislation that outlines the eligibility criteria for jury service and how prospective jurors must be selected.
Jury summons
a court order that states a time and place to go for jury duty
Demographic variables:
- Gender, race (harsher with race difference or with those of same race), SES, education, political affiliation (right= seek authorisation). For example, they found in cases where a white victim, black defendants looked more stereotypical were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who looked less stereotypical
Black sheep effect:
when evidence is strong, similarity between defendant and jury leads to punitiveness
(personality traits) Authoritarianism:
the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.
(personality traits) Dogmatism:
: the tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.
Defendant and victim characteristics:
Attractiveness, known past behaviour (to pass doubt on jury), gender. If jurors hear about a defendant’s prior criminal record that contains one or more convictions, they are more likely to find the defendant guilty than if they did not have this knowledge.
Purposes of sentencing
Main goal: to change the behaviour of convicted offenders and the behaviours of potential offenders who reside in the community
Specific deterrence:
Sentencing to reduce the likelihood that an offender will reoffend in the future (don’t do again/ other bad behaviour and more individual)
General deterrence:
Sentencing to reduce the likelihood that members of the general population will offend in the future
Criminal code (section 718)
- Denounce unlawful conduct
- Separate offenders from society
- Assist in rehabilitating offenders (should be health care/ support/etc. but only means separate/isolate from communities)
- Provide reparations for harm done to victims or the community (apologies)
- Promote a sense of responsibility in offenders
3,4,5: doesn’t work on psychopathy because no guilt
Sentencing disparity
Variations in sentencing severity for similar crimes committed under similar circumstances
Sources of unwarranted sentencing disparity
is due to a
reliance on extra-legal factors . it is when variations in sentencing severity for similar crimes committed under similar circumstances that result from reliance by the judge on legally irrelevant factors
Systematic disparity:
consistent disagreement among judges about sentencing decisions because of factors such as hoe lenient judges think sentences should be.
Unsystematic disparity:
inconsistencies in a judge’s sentencing decisions over time when judging the same type of offender or crime because of factors such as the judge’s mood
Reducing sentencing disparity
may be difficult because the law allows judges a great deal of discretion when making sentencing decision
Sentencing guidelines
intended to reduce degree of discretion that judges have when handing down sentences
The fundamental belief of sentencing
the belief that sentences should be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender
Absolute discharge
the release of an offender into the community with no conditions put in place
Conditional discharge (not incarcerated) :
the release of an offender into the community with conditions put in place
Restitution:
sentence where the offender has to make a momentary payment to the victim or the community
Fines:
a sentence that involves the offender preforming a duty in the community, often as a way of paying off a fine
Community service :
sentencing that involves the offender preforming a duty in the community, often as a way of paying off a fine
Conditional sentence:
sentence that involves the offender preforming a duty in the community often as a way of paying off a fine
Imprisonment:
a sentence served in prison
Offender treatment :
must meet 3 principles in order to be effective (need, risk, responsivity
Need principle
Effective intervention will target factors that related to reoffending
Risk principle
Effective intervention will focus on offenders who are at high risk of reoffending
Responsivity principle
Effective intervention will be tailored to each offender’s needs, learning styles, and abilities, what works
(expensive)
Recidivism (re-offend) with mental illness:
after three years recidivism rate was 27 % following index verdict, 20% conditional discharge and 22 % absolute discharge. Québec’s rate doubles in comparison to other provinces.
Parole decisions & effectiveness
- Risk of recidivism (and was treatment effective?) and feasibility of offender’s release plans
- Offender’s criminal history
- Problems faced by offender (substance use,
family violence) - Offender’s employment & relationship history
- Reports on offender’s mental health
- Behaviour while serving sentence
- Offender’s opinions on law enforcement officials
- Statements and information from victims
- Evidence of change in offender’s behaviour and insight into offender’s own behaviour
Temporary absence :
form of parole that allows offender to enter community on temporary basis (correction program, etc)
Day parole:
form of parole that allows the offender to enter the community for up to one day (for job, etc)
Full parole:
form of parole that allows the offender to serve the remainder of his sentence under supervision in the community
Statutory release (legally mandated, not earned) :
release of offenders from prison after they have served two-thirds of their sentence
Parole decision making :
- Statistical measures of an offenders risk to reoffend
- Offenders criminal history
- Social problems experiences by the offender, such as a drug use and family violence
- Information about offenders relationships and employment history
- Psychological or psychiatric behaviour
- Opinions from other professionals such as police officers
- Information from victims
- Information that indicates evidence of change and insight into the offenders own behaviour
- Benefits derived from treatment that may reduce the risk posed by the offender
- Performance on earlier releases
- Risk to society?
- Feasibility of offender’s release plan
