Trial Participants' Behaviors and Jury Verdicts - An Exploratory Field Study (From Criminal Justice System - A Social-Psychological Analysis, P 261-290, 1982, Vladimir J Konecni and Ebbe B Ebbesen, ed. - See NCJ-87097)

• NCJ Number: 87107
• Author(s): N L Kerr
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 30 pages
• Sale Source: W H Freeman and Co
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This field study of factors affecting jury conviction rates examines how variables associated with the defendant, the defense and prosecuting attorneys, the judge, and the victim affect jury decisionmaking.

Abstract

Study findings are based on 1,296 separate trial forms that describe 113 criminal jury trials in the San Diego County Superior Court. Data were compiled by college students during the 1974-75 and 1975-76 academic years. For each variable on the trial form, a trial average was computed across all observers who attended that trial. In the preliminary analyses of the data, a simple model was assumed, namely, that the trial form variables have simple linear relationships with the juries' conviction ratios. Ten variables correlated significantly with juries' conviction ratios. They were (1) defense attorney's knowledge of evidence, (2) defense attorney's convincingness of argument, (3) supportive reactions of defense attorney for prosecutor, (4) supportive reactions of prosecutor for defense attorney, (5) prosecutor's interest, (6) prosecutor's respectfulness/surliness, (7) judge's relative favoritism, (8) judge's respectfulness/surliness, (9) victim's sex, and (10) victim's age. In an adversary system of justice, it is not surprising that the jury's evaluation of the advocates may also affect its evaluation of the cases being argued; however, it is more unexpected and disturbing to find that the court behavior of the judge, who is expected to be a neutral party, may also influence a jury's verdict. Predictor variables from the trial form are appended, and 45 references are listed.