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Jury Nullification Instructions as Amplifiers of Bias

Kerr, Norbert L., Boster, Franklin J, Callen, Craig R., Braz, Mary E., O'Brien, Barbara, Horowitz, Irwin A. (2008) Jury Nullification Instructions as Amplifiers of Bias. International Commentary on Evidence, 6 (1). E-ISSN 1554-4567. (doi:10.2202/1554-4567.1068) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:41675)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2202/1554-4567.1068

Abstract

Recently, Horowitz and his colleagues (2006) showed that evidence that was emotionally biasing for jurors (specifically, irrelevant information about the character of a crime victim) exerted a stronger effect on juror judgment if those jurors had received instructions that explicitly endorsed jurors' ability to nullify rather than standard instructions—what one might call the ``amplification effect" of the nullification instructions. This paper reports a jury simulation study that employed a nullification instruction in addition to those Horowitz, et al., used—one that explicitly cautioned mock jurors not to confuse the emotions aroused by the potential unfairness applying the law with similar emotions aroused by biasing information (the ``null plus" instructions). The null-plus instruction did not negate the amplification effect of the nullification instructions. Unexpectedly, mock jurors who received nullification or null plus instructions were more likely to convict the killer of an unsympathetic victim than of a sympathetic one, but those who received standard instructions were not sensitive to biasing victim information. While Horowitz, et al. (2006) also found evidence that jurors who received nullification instructions were affected by emotionally biasing information more than those who did not, the direction of the relationship between victim information and verdicts was reversed (that is, an unsympathetic victim resulted in more acquittals). The contrast between the two studies' findings suggests that nullification instructions may trigger certain biases, but that further research will be needed to specify the direction of such biases.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.2202/1554-4567.1068
Uncontrolled keywords: juror; nullification; judicial instructions
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: M.L. Barnoux
Date Deposited: 01 Jul 2014 16:58 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:16 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/41675 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Kerr, Norbert L..

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