Persuading a Jury:
Optional H/W from last lesson:
What effect does the order in which testimony
is presented have on persuading a jury? (10)
JUN 11
Persuasion- Expert Witness
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From the research by Loftus et al we know that
eye witness testimony is unreliable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSzPn9rsPcY
Why?
* What is used in light of this in the courtroom?
Persuasion

Expert witnesses are widely used in criminal
trials to add scientific credence to evidence.

Psychologists such as Loftus are often called as
expert witnesses for the defence to warn jurors
of the possible problems with eye witness
testimony.
Loftus (1980) – Impact of Expert
Psychological Testimony

Strengths

Weaknesses
Persuading a Jury
Effect of evidence being
ruled inadmissible
JAN 11

What is the effect on a jury of evidence being
ruled inadmissible in court? (10)
Learning Objectives
To understand what inadmissible means.
 To understand evidence relating to the effect
of ruling evidence inadmissible.
 To describe and evaluate the key study by
Pickel.

The Times (September 9th 2009)


“What is the point of Britain’s intelligence agencies
spending millions on surveillance if the information
obtained cannot be used to convict dangerous
extremists? “
Suspected terrorists are given curfews and are
electronically tagged, but the information obtained
against them cannot be used in court as it is deemed
inadmissible.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/arti
cle6826580.ece
What types of evidence do you think
would be considered inadmissible?
Effect of evidence being ruled
inadmissible


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This is when the judge telling a
jury to disregard inadmissible
evidence.
It is an issue in the US legal
system.
Inadmissible evidence includes
unjustified bias or prior
conviction evidence (which is not
meant to be heard by a jury).
If evidence is seen as biased, a
re-trial could be called for with a
new jury, and counsel
responsible for introducing the
evidence would be disciplined.
Persuading a Jury:
Effect of Inadmissible Evidence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y-_-6sxXRI
Inadmissible evidence
Will the jury really be able to ignore the
information?
Does the act of telling the jury to ignore the
inadmissible evidence make them more or
less likely to discount this information?
Broeder (1959)
Found a “boomerang effect”
Mock jurors, when instructed to disregard a piece of
information that showed the defendant was
insured, jurors awarded them greater damages
than when it was not ruled inadmissible.
Perhaps because the instruction to disregard the
evidence increased the importance of the
information.
Boomerang Effect
Also called “Reactance theory” – attention is
drawn to this evidence
Jury may react to the order to ignore evidence
as they perceive that their freedom to take all
evidence into account is undermined.
“the jury should ignore that last
remark....”
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This is quite often heard if counsel
“drops” a remark that is seen as
inadmissible.
But how?
Reactance theory argues that if a judge
asks the jury to ignore a comment, if
anything, they are more likely to attend
to it....
Kind of like a big red button that should
NEVER be pressed.
Key Study
Pickel
Investigating the effect of instructions to
disregard inadmissible evidence
Method
Method - Procedure
Findings
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Evidence ruled inadmissible and received no
explanation were able to ignore the
inadmissible evidence.
Evidence ruled inadmissible and received an
explanation were less able to ignore this
information – less guilty verdicts.
When measuring the extent to which the
prior conviction affected their verdict, there
were no significant findings for this.
Conclusion

Calling attention to inadmissible evidence
makes it more important to the jury and they
therefore pay more attention to it.

How can we apply these findings to the real
life courtroom?

This tactic needs to be available to both
sides of the argument to ensure a fair trial.
Optional H/W


January 2011
What is the effect on a jury of evidence being
ruled inadmissible in court? (10)
Compulsory H/W

Describe how persuasion may be used in a
courtroom. (10)