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Psych and Law Exam 2
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Challenges for cause | Eliminate prospective jurors on basis of bias or prejudice; not foolproof. |
| Peremptory strikes | Racial bias in jury selection must be eliminated; disagreement on how to do that |
| Racial bias in Jury verdicts | Mock jurors more likely to render guilty verdicts for other-race defendants. |
| Jury Formation | Representative cross section of community; lawyers select jury members based on specific characteristics. |
| What discriminatory practice was used by the prosecutor in Curtis Flower's case? | Peremptory strikes to remove 5-6 black jurors. |
| Jurors' understanding of interrogations(Leo & Lui et al (2009) | Jurors realize psychological interrogation techniques may be coercive but don't believe they lead to false confessions. |
| Jurors' ability to understand instructions | Instructions can be elaborate; jurors make an average of 52 errors per case. |
| Pre-trial publicity | Media depictions/reports on a case before trial influence perceptions of guilt. |
| What is a potential violation related to pre-trial publicity? | Violation of due process |
| Jurors exposed to pre-trial publicity | More likely to favor the prosecution and prejudge the defendant as guilty. |
| PTP Confirmation Bias | Makes jurors evaluate prosecution evidence more favorably and leads to negative impressions of the defendant. |
| Preponderance of Evidence | plaintiff's version is more likely true than not, scale tips in their favor |
| Witnesses in Mock Trial | DR. Femmur, John Smith (eyewitness), Payne, and Davis. |
| What was the main research question in Eberhardt et al. (2006)? | Whether the degree to which a Black defendant looks stereotypically Black predicts the likelihood of receiving the death penalty. |
| What broader conclusion does the study support about racial bias in capital sentencing? | Racial bias operates not just through race categories (Black vs. White), but through physical appearance — specifically, stereotypically Black features. |
| What did both judges and jurors focus on when awarding punitive damages in the Wrightsman reading? | The defendant’s behavior, not the plaintiff’s suffering. |
| Trial Consultants | Social scientists who help attorneys select juries. |
| Methods used to recruit Jurors | Voter registration, licenses, vetting jurors, ripe for discrimination. |
| Why Jury duty is generally disliked | Little to no compensation, disrupts life, usually not chosen. |
| Vetting Jurors | asking jurors certain questions |
| Limited vetting jurors | Judge asks juror yes or no questions |
| Extended vetting jurors | Judges and lawyers ask open-ended questions to understand each persons bias |
| What is a peremptory challenge? | Excluding a potential juror without reason. |
| What is the purpose of a peremptory challenge? | To exclude unsympathetic jurors and increase both sides' satisfaction with the verdict. |
| Batson Rule | Batson v. Kentucky ruling that peremptory challenges cannot exclude jurors based solely on race. |
| How many times has Curtis Flower's case gone to trial? | 6 times |
| What happened to the jury in Curtis Flower's case? | 4 appeals and 2 hung juries |
| Who won't be on a Jury? | People with higher education and strong biases towards/against the legal system. |
| Voir Dire | Jury selection process eliminating jurors who are likely to be biased. |
| Juries' vs judges' verdicts | ¾ times judges and jurors' verdicts are the same. |
| Admissible evidence | Simply telling jurors "ignore that evidence" usually does NOT work |
| What helps jurors better dismiss admissible evidence? | Jurors more likely to ignore inadmissible evidence if the judge explains why it must be ignored. |
| Can jurors claim impartiality despite exposure to pre-trial publicity? | Yes, jurors can claim they can be impartial. |
| Do defendants have a constitutional right to inquire about jurors' exposure to pre-trial publicity? | No |
| Casey and Caylee case | Media saturation led to over 90% unable to serve as jurors due to pre-trial publicity. |
| Rights impeded by pre-trial publicity | 6th Amendment right to an impartial jury and and the first amendement right to a free press |
| what does the defense have to do with pre-trial publicity? | Once defense attorneys receive the information, it becomes public. In Florida, public record laws require prosecutors to share all evidence with defense attorneys. |
| Remedies for pre-trial publicity | Judicial instruction, voir dire, change of venue, and bench trials are often ineffective. |
| What is jury nullification? | Jury nullification occurs when a jury finds a defendant not guilty despite evidence of guilt. |
| Why might a jury choose to nullify a law? | they do not support the government's law, believe the law is unconstitutional or inhumane, or disagree with the possible punishment. |
| Halo Effect | A person appears attractive that also means they are a good person, aka innocent. Burglary (crime unrelated to attractiveness) is punished more severely, while swindle (crime related to attractiveness) is punished less severely. |
| Nerd Effect | Presents as being intelligent; we assume they have other good qualities and are good people. Defendants wearing glasses get fewer guilty verdicts. |
| Pre-Trial Publicity (PTP) | Includes inadmissible evidence, prior criminal history, emotional or sensational details that can bias decision making. |
| Mock Jury | Role of the jury is to decide facts, not law, and must apply the law as the judge explains it. |
| PLaintiff | The person who brings the lawsuit in a civil case, claiming they were harmed and seeking compensation or another remedy. EX: Payne who got hit and injured |
| defendant | The person being sued in civil cases or accused in criminal cases; they respond to the plaintiff's claims. Ex: Davis who hit Paynes car |
| Burden of Proof | Level of proof required to win EX: The plaintiff (Payne) must prove: Davis was negligent, Davis’s negligence caused the accident, Payne suffered damages |
| Direct Examination | When a lawyer questions their own witness to present evidence that supports their side, using open-ended questions. EX: Payne's attorney questioning Payne about the accident and her injuries. |
| Cross Examination | The opposing lawyer questions the witness to challenge credibility, expose inconsistencies, and weaken the other case. EX: Davis's attorney cross‑examining Payne about her medical history. |
| Direct Evidence | Directly proves a fact, such as eyewitness testimony. |
| Circumstantial Evidence | Suggests a fact through inference, such as fingerprints or motive; both direct and circumstantial evidence are equally valid. |
| Evidentiary Stage of the Case | Witnesses testify, exhibits are introduced, and evidence is presented. |
| Mock Jury Deliberation Instructions | Discuss the case only in the jury room, consider only the evidence presented, apply the law as instructed, and reach a verdict based on the preponderance of the evidence. |
| Opening Statement | Not evidence but a roadmap of what each side intends to prove. |
| Closing Statement | Not evidence but summarizes the evidence and argues how the jury should interpret it. |
| Key Findings of PTP Research Ruva, C., McEvoy, C., & Bryant, J. B. (2007). | Negative PTP strongly biases jurors, increases guilty verdicts, lowers defendant credibility, and creates memory distortions. |
| Mock Trial Case | Civil negligence case involving a car accident where the plaintiff (Payne) claims the defendant (Davis) acted negligently. |
| What was the key finding regarding stereotypicality and death sentencing? | Stereotypicality predicted death sentencing — but only when the victim was White. |
| What percentage of low‑stereotypicality Black defendants received the death penalty? | 24.4% |
| What percentage of high‑stereotypicality Black defendants received the death penalty? | 57.5% |
| How much more likely were high‑stereotypicality defendants to receive death compared to low‑stereotypicality defendants? | more than twice as likely |
| Why did stereotypicality matter only when the victim was White? | Racial salience — interracial crimes (Black defendant, White victim) activate racial stereotypes more strongly. |
| What major issue does Object Anyway Racial Bias in Jury Selection podcast focus on | Racial discrimination in jury selection, especially through peremptory challenges. |
| Who was James Batson? | A Black man from Louisville, Kentucky, accused of burglary in 1982 whose case led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling. |
| Before Batson, could lawyers legally strike jurors because of race? | Yes. Peremptory challenges required no explanation, allowing racial exclusion. |
| What constitutional amendments did Batson argue were violated? | 14th Amendment → Equal Protection 6th Amendment → Right to a jury drawn from a fair cross‑section of the community |
| What type of damages is the Wrightsman reading focused on? | Punitive damages — money awarded to punish the defendant for bad behavior, not to compensate the plaintiff. |
| What did researchers from Wrightsman originally expect about judges vs. jurors in punitive damage decisions? | They expected judges to be more rational and jurors to be more emotional or inconsistent. |
| What did the Wrightsman study actually find about judges and jurors? | They made similar decisions, awarded similar amounts, and showed similar patterns of variation. |
| What is the key takeaway from Wrightsman's analysis? | Judges and jurors use the same reasoning processes when deciding punitive damages. |
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