Effects of Inadmissible Testimony on Verdicts in Simulated Juries

• NCJ Number: 85820
• Author(s): J C Reinard; R A Reynolds
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 28 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Convention, Phoenix, Arizona, May 1976

Annotation

Sixty college students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions in a study of the effects of inadmissible evidence on a jury's verdict.

Abstract

The first group was exposed to the inadmissible evidence and a ruling that it was inadmissible; the second group, to the inadmissible testimony without objection; the third group, to the inadmissible evidence and a ruling that it was admissible; and the fourth group, to no inadmissible evidence. After reading transcripts of the trial, subjects completed measures of understanding the judge's instructions, of credibility of the defendant, of verdict, and of sentencing. Analysis of results indicated that jurors did not disregard inadmissible testimony when instructed to do so and that jurors' verdicts seem to be influenced by inadmissible evidence only when objection is raised. Both theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center) abstract)