Frequently, jurors are asked to vote for manslaughter rather than murder due to a defendant's emotions overcoming the defendant's reason at the time of a killing. Spackman et al. (2002) examined factors jurors take into consideration when determining whether a defendant's emotions serve as mitigating circumstances to reduce a murder charge to a verdict of manslaughter...
In consent-defense rape cases, a complainant's status as a victim is at issue: Is she a victim of rape, or did she consent to sex? Certain complainants are more likely to be seen as rape victims, and certain jurors are more likely to see them that way. Women with certain attributes are more likely to be accorded rape victim status. Christie (1986) reports that a woman most readily accorded rape victim status has 5 attributes:...
The jurors in the Scott Peterson trial recommended the death penalty, and afterwards commented that Scott Peterson looked "cold and unemotional" during the trial. Did Scott Peterson's demeanor affect jurors' recommendation of a death sentence? Two recent research studies report that emotionally impassive defendants are convicted more often and punished more severely. Heath and Grannemann (2004) studied how the amount of emotion displayed by a defendant influenced conviction rates...
The increased lifetime risk of death from asbestos exposure for particular air concentrations is a calculable quantity, and is often considerably less than the risk of death from other substances such as smoking, saccharin in soft drinks, chest X-rays, aflatoxin in peanut butter, and radiation from living in a brick house. Two studies conducted 12 years apart by different researchers - Slovic et al. (1990) and Johnson (2002) - reached similar findings on the value of a defendant offering such risk comparison information in an asbestos trial...
Stealing thunder is when an attorney reveals potentially incriminating evidence first (before the other side can) for the purpose of reducing its negative impact on jurors or other decision-makers. Stealing thunder is a highly effective tactic for handling negative information. Recent research by Dolnik et al. (2003) investigated what, if anything, might limit the effectiveness of stealing thunder as a persuasion tactic...
Typically, we think that racial diversity on juries is valuable because it offers the perspective of a minority group member. Recent research by Sommers (2006) suggests that racial diversity also encourages majority group members to re-think their perspectives...
Men and women serve as expert witnesses every day in America's courtrooms on topics ranging from automotive engineering to reasonable standards for elder care. Some topics of expertise are culturally associated with males, while others are culturally associated with females. Some topics of expertise seem very complex, while others appear less complex to jurors. Two recent studies examined the credibility of male and female expert witnesses on culturally-associated and complex topics...
Jurors are often instructed by a judge to disregard inadmissible testimony after objection by an attorney. Wilson (2004) recently tested, in two studies, whether an attorney's objection increases the likelihood that the objected-to testimony influences jurors' verdicts. The first study found that jurors overweight testimony that follows an objection, and that...
A recent study by Kulik et al. (2003) explored the effects of judges' personal characteristics (gender, race, age, and political affiliation) and case characteristics on the outcomes of federal cases of hostile environment sexual harassment. Results revealed...
The O.J. Simpson trial spawned extensive discussion of "playing the race card." Racial issues arise in America's courtrooms every day, and attorneys must decide whether to raise the racial issue or leave it unstated. A recent study by Sommers (2006) examined the effect that asking about racial biases in voir dire had on determinations of guilt of a black defendant...