A re-examination of the acquittal biasing effect of offence seriousness

Article

Lundrigan, S., Dhami, M. and Mueller-Johnson, K. 2018. A re-examination of the acquittal biasing effect of offence seriousness. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. 25 (5), pp. 769-778. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2018.1478334
TypeArticle
TitleA re-examination of the acquittal biasing effect of offence seriousness
AuthorsLundrigan, S., Dhami, M. and Mueller-Johnson, K.
Abstract

The justice system should operate free of any bias, and jurors’ judgments of a defendant’s guilt should be based on evidential factors alone. However, research suggests that this does not always occur. We aimed to investigate the biasing effect of offence seriousness, a case-related, extra-legal factor, on juror decision-making. In an experiment, we examined the effect of this extra-legal factor on 118 members of the jury eligible publics’ interpretations of Beyond Reasonable Doubt (BRD), probability of commission, verdict, and confidence in verdict.
We found that defendants charged with more serious offences were judged to be less likely to have committed the crime. However, offence seriousness did not have a significant effect on interpretations of BRD or verdict. The present findings suggest a need to instruct jurors on the application of legal (probative) factors alone.

PublisherTaylor & Francis (Routledge)
JournalPsychiatry, Psychology and Law
ISSN1321-8719
Electronic1934-1687
Publication dates
Online19 Jun 2018
Print03 Sep 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited04 Jul 2018
Accepted15 May 2018
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law on 19/06/2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13218719.2018.1478334

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2018.1478334
LanguageEnglish
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