Jury Decision Making

Question 1

Comprehension aids (4)

Answer 1

Judicial instructions
Trial transcripts
Allow jury to ask questions
Note taking during trial

Question 2

Size of Canadian jury

Answer 2

12

Question 3

Benefits of larger juries (4)

Answer 3

More representative
Diversity of opinions
Deliberate longer
Recall more evidence

Question 4

Leniency bias

Answer 4

If the jury begins evenly split, the verdict is more likely to be not guilty

Question 5

Study on jury decisions starting from a majority (Kalven & Zeisel, 1996)

Answer 5

209 of 215 juries ended up agreeing

Question 6

Jury nullification

Answer 6

Jury refuses to apply the law

Question 7

Stages of decision-making process

Answer 7

Orientation, open conflict, reconciliation

Question 8

Informational conformity

Answer 8

Desire to be right, going with the evidence

Question 9

Normative conformity

Answer 9

Desire to fit in, going with the group

Question 10

Dynamite charge

Answer 10

Judge sends a deadlocked jury back to keep deliberating until it can reach verdict

Question 11

Story model for jury decision-making

Answer 11

Construction, verdict representation, story classification

Question 12

Categories of evidence used in verdict representation

Answer 12

Identity, mental state, circumstances, actions

Question 13

Benefits of juries (5)

Answer 13

Safeguard against State injustice
Reflect community sentiment
12 heads are better than 1
Civic engagement in legal system
Public confidence in system

Question 14

Problems of juries (5)

Answer 14

Expensive
Time consuming
Juries might get it wrong
Laypeople struggle with complex legal concepts
Decisions influenced by extra-legal factors

Question 15

Juror trauma

Answer 15

Exposure to horriffic information and high stakes decisions can cause PTSD

Question 16

Similarities between judges and jurors

Answer 16

Both fail to disregard inadmissible evidence

Display heuristic errors

Question 17

Judge verses jury study (Kalven & Zeisel, 1966)

Answer 17

Judges rendered verdicts on cases decided by juries
Judges and juries rougly agreed (75-80%)
Juries more lenient, esp. with lesser offences

Question 18

Boomerang effect

Answer 18

Suppressed evidence is more persuasive

Question 19

Ironic process phenomenon

Answer 19

The harder one tries to control a thought, the less one succeeds

Question 20

Forms of inadmissible evidence (3)

Answer 20

Character evidence, rape shield evidence, pre-trial publicity

Question 21

Liberation hypothesis

Answer 21

When the evidence is close, jurors may feel liberated to consider inadmissible or extra-legal information