When jurors first start deliberations, most have an opinion about the guilt or innocence of a criminal defendant. Garvey and colleagues (2004) recently analyzed reports of 3,000 jurors in criminal trials in four major metropolitan areas to determine the primary influences on a juror's first vote...

Witnesses can offer more or fewer details in their testimony, and these details can be trivial or central. Research suggests that when witnesses offer testimony that is more detailed, even when the details are trivial, they are perceived to be more credible...

At the end of trials, judges give jurors a set of instructions that explain the laws that are applicable to the case and that direct jurors to reach a verdict in accordance with those laws. Greene and Johns (2001) investigated the extent to which jurors understand judicial instructions in negligence cases...

Because of the nearly unrestricted use of leading questions, cross-examination provides opportunity to influence jurors through questions designed to impart information to the jury. Kassin and colleagues (1990) tested whether jurors' perceptions of an expert witness can be influenced by leading cross-examination questions...

Deposed witnesses are not always available for trial, and so the testimony is read by a reader selected by the attorney presenting the witness' testimony. Jurors judge more than the content of the read testimony - they also judge the reader. Kassin (1983) found that opinions of a witness are influenced by the demeanor of the deposition testimony reader...

Sexual harassment knows no gender. Men can harass women or other men, and women can also harass men or other women. Wayne and colleagues (2001) explored how jurors perceive cross-sex and same-sex harassment for both males and females accused of harassment. Over 400 jurors made decisions in a hostile work environment case...

Judges and juries often reach similar decisions, although there are times these decisions differ. Eisenberg and colleagues (2006) analyzed thousands of trials from a substantial part of the nation's most populous counties...

In 1966, Kalven and Zeisel found that judges agreed with criminal verdicts 78% of the time. In 2005, Eisenberg and colleagues examined a new database of criminal trials and found essentially the same rate of judge-jury agreement. Eisenberg and colleagues report, however, that judges and juries differentially convict...

Studdert and colleagues (2006) recently analyzed the prevalence, characteristics, litigation outcomes, and costs of medical malpractice claims that lacked evidence of error. Trained physicians reviewed a random sample of 1,452 closed malpractice claims from five liability insurers to determine whether a medical injury had occurred and, if so, whether it was due to medical error...

Under the law, gender discrimination claims can be made by both women and men, although women traditionally are perceived by jurors as "typical" plaintiffs in such actions. Jurors' own gender can influence their perceptions of the validity of gender discrimination claims. Elkins and colleagues (2001) examined whether a "same sex" bias existed in the evaluation of gender discrimination claims, that is, whether male jurors evaluated claims of male plaintiffs more positively, and female jurors evaluated claims of female plaintiffs more positively...