Mock-juror Decision-making: The Influence of Inconsistencies, Situation Type, and Defendant and Victim Race
摘要
Across two studies, the influence of inconsistencies between a police officer’s (defendant’s) testimony and their body-worn camera footage and police perceptions on mock-juror decision-making were examined. Experiment 1 examined the influence of defendant race (White vs. Indigenous) and victim race (White vs. Indigenous), and experiment 2 examined the influence of the type of situation the police officer was responding to (mental health vs. other). The results of experiment 1 found that mock-jurors were more likely to find the defendant guilty, rate the defendant more guilty on a continuous scale, and rate the defendant less truthful and credible when the defendant was White compared to Indigenous, though this was only true for jurors who had unfavourable perceptions of the police. Experiment 2 found that mock-jurors were more likely to find the defendant guilty and rate the defendant more guilty on a continuous scale when the situation the officer was responding to involved mental health, compared to when it did not. Across both studies, while defendant inconsistencies did not influence juror decision-making, perceptions of police legitimacy did influence juror decision-making.