Title: The Law and Information Processing: Implications for Verdicts in Rape Cases<sup>1</sup>
Abstract: This study investigated the effects of focus of attention (victim vs. defendant) and the ability to recommend a sentence in addition to rendering a verdict versus rendering only a verdict on judgments in a rape case. Support was found for the hypothesis that participants would more often find the defendant guilty, and would be more confident in their guilty verdict when a sentence could be recommended in addition to the verdict, compared to those who only recommended a verdict. This pattern was especially prominent for females. This finding is discussed in terms of the standard of reasonable doubt that mock jurors may impose on their verdict decision. Interactions between the independent variables suggest that these factors may prompt mock jurors to selectively attend to particular types of information at particular times.
Publication Year: 1996
Publication Date: 1996-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 4
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