The use of expert witnesses in courtroom proceedings has become commonplace in the American judicial system. Some jurors are more favorable than others toward the use of expert witnesses. Recent research by Griffith et al. (2005)...
ury selection is an art based on science, with attorneys striking jurors they believe to be closed and resistant to the arguments they will be presenting. Jurors' beliefs about emotion, and the relationship between emotion and reason, have been found to affect determinations of guilt in a criminal trial. A recent study by Spackman et al. (2006) found that jurors' beliefs about emotion and reason influenced their determination of whether a defendant was guilty of murder or manslaughter...
In a recent study by Poser et al. (2003), 197 mock jurors awarded damages after they received instructions on noneconomic damages. One third of the mock jurors received instructions in which loss of enjoyment of life was not identified as a distinct element of noneconomic damages. Another third...
In recent research, Bornstein (2004) found that the type of expert testimony presented in a personal injury case influenced individual verdicts...
In a simulated products liability trial, Adams (2006) recently tested the effects of bifurcating decisions regarding compensatory and punitive damage awards...
A common question to jurors in voir dire in criminal, and some civil, cases is whether they or anyone close to them has been the victim of a crime. Jurors who are crime victims are often struck on the theory they are likely to side with the prosecution (or plaintiff). In recent research, Culhane (2004) examined whether being a victim of a crime influenced the verdicts of...
Influence styles differ in their power. A low power influence style is hesitant, indirect and unassertive, while a high power style is assertive, dominant and direct. A recent study by Trafalis (2006) found that the influence style that worked best for a female attorney depends on the female attorney's attractiveness and the gender composition of the jury she is trying to persuade...
Some judges are highly nonverbally involved in a trial, while other judges exhibit minimal levels of nonverbal involvement. In a recent study by Burnett and Badzinski (2005)...
The law requires jurors to judge the facts on the basis of what a defendant knew at the time of a traffic accident, not on the basis of information knowable only in hindsight (i.e., after the fact). Recent research has demonstrated that computer animations of traffic accidents...
Gruesome evidence can influence juror verdicts, though the content of the gruesome evidence - verbal or photographic - matters. In a recent study by Bright and Goodman-Delahunty (2006)...