E4a1How defendant

characteristics affect jury

decision-making

Procedure in court

Listen to evidence and testimony presented by the defence (defending

the defendant) and the prosecution

Jury decide on the verdict of guilty or not

The system is not perfect and innocent people have been sent to prison.

Psychologist try to find out why this is?

Can the jury make a mistake?

A jury should based their decision on what they see and hear from the

evidence and the testimony.

However jurors may be affected by other factors, how people look and

sound. Without realising it.

Defendant Characteristics

What is the supporting study

How a defendant looks, acts and sounds can effect how they are viewed

by the jury.

This sis stereotypical

There is a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in prison (15%) compared

to (8%) of the population.

Is this because ethic minorities commit more crimes? Or are there other

factors that we need to consider?

Psychologist research

Does Race affect jury decision?

If we have a stereotypical view of a black man as more likely to commit a

crime are we more likely to find them guilty?

Could this explain the higher figures?

Mock studies with white jurors have found them more likely to find Black

defendants guilty compared to white defendants

Also found black defendants are given harsher sentences than a white

defendant who committed the same crime.

Skolnick and Shaw 1997

Found that both the race of the jurors and the defendants are important

factors in the decision making factors.

They Found

Both Black and White Jurors were less likely to find black defendants guilty.

This goes against other studies.

Also

Black jurors were more likely to find white defendants guilty compared to black

defendants.

Taylor and Butcher 2007

Attractiveness

Attractive people are less likely to commit a crime (What case states this.

Conducted a mock jury study

More attractive people were judged as less guilty of a crime and given lower

sentences than unattractive people.

Attractive people could get away with murder!

Mahoney and Dixon 2002

Accent

Jury can be influenced by how someone speaks.

Well spoken might find them not guilty of a robbery. Someone with a strong

regional accent the reverse might happen as we may see them as needing

more money.

Conducted an experiment found Brumimes to be more likely to b found

guilty of armed robbery than cheque fraud compare to a defendant with

a posh accent.

WE HAVE COMPLETED THE WHOLE COURSE

We have learnt it

We just need to remember it now.