NCJ Number
132206
Journal
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 20 Issue: 18 Dated: (1990) Pages: 1461-1473
Date Published
1990
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Defense attorneys and prosecutors in 47 States answered questions related to a hypothetical armed robbery case to test the impact of eyewitness evidence on plea bargain decisions.
Abstract
The subjects were randomly assigned to receive a case in which an eyewitness could identify the defendant as the criminal, could testify that the defendant was not the criminal, or could not tell whether or not the defendant was the criminal. As expected, the identification condition prompted defense attorneys to seek a plea bargain and prosecutors to avoid a plea bargain. However, similar to findings with jurors, both prosecutors and defense attorneys underutilized the nonidentification information in making their plea bargain decisions. The findings indicate that prosecution underutilization of eyewitness nonidentification is mediated by predictions of juror reaction to the evidence. 2 tables and 12 references (Author abstract modified)