From whose perspective? Differences between actors and observers in determining the voluntariness of guilty pleas.

Fessinger, Melanie B.

doi:10.1037/lhb0000501

Cited by 2 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Despite these measures, we still removed many participants from our overall sample for incorrectly responding to one or more of our checks. This high failure rate might partially reflect the nature of online data collection because it is consistent with our past uses of similar materials on other recruiting platforms (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk, Sona Systems; Fessinger & Kovera, 2022), but it might also reflect the content of the information being tested. For example, many of our innocent participants incorrectly indicated that they were guilty and were removed from analyses.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionssupporting

confidence: 66%

“…The full sample included 1,518 adults recruited from Qualtrics Research Panels. This number does not include 508 participants (25%) who failed attention or manipulation checks, which is a rate consistent with our past uses of similar materials on other recruiting platforms (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk, Sona Systems; Fessinger & Kovera, 2022). 2 Participants in the full sample were 59.22 years old, on average ( SD = 16.49).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Additionally, a few experimental studies have identified factors that affect perceptions of voluntary guilty pleas. Some studies have shown that defendant guilt likely plays a central role in whether pleas are perceived as voluntary (Fessinger & Kovera, 2022; Firth & Kenney, 2015), although this effect has not always been consistent (Redlich & Shteynberg, 2016). Other studies have shown that the size of the sentence reduction affects whether pleas are perceived as voluntary (Firth & Kenney, 2015; Khogali et al, 2018), although again, this effect has not been consistent across all studies (Redlich & Shteynberg, 2016).…”

Section: Defendant Guiltmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous experimental studies have demonstrated that guilty defendants are more likely to plead guilty than are innocent defendants (e.g., Dervan & Edkins, 2013; Lee et al, 2021; Tor et al, 2010). Still, innocent defendants plead guilty at sometimes remarkably high rates (e.g., Dervan & Edkins, 2013; Fessinger & Kovera, 2022; Garnier-Dykstra & Wilson, 2021). They might do so for various reasons, such as fearing a possible substantial sentence upon a trial conviction; perceiving a high probability of being convicted at trial; following advice from their defense attorney; or being averse to taking risks (Bibas, 2004; Henderson & Levett, 2018; Tor et al, 2010).…”

Section: Defendant Guiltmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some evidence suggests that innocent defendants who plead guilty perceive their plea decisions as less voluntary or more coerced than do guilty defendants (Fessinger & Kovera, 2022; Firth & Kenney, 2015). However, certain aspects of the decision-making process might differentially affect innocent and guilty defendants.…”

Section: Defendant Guiltmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An offer you cannot refuse: Plea offer size affects innocent but not guilty defendants' perceptions of voluntariness.

Fessinger,

Kovera

2023

Law and Human Behavior

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Objective: We examined whether various plea outcomes-including sentence reduction size (smaller, larger), type (traditional guilty plea, Alford plea), and frame (plea discount, trial penalty)-differentially affected innocent and guilty defendants' perceptions of the voluntariness of their guilty pleas. Hypotheses: We hypothesized (1) guilty defendants would rate guilty pleas as more voluntary than would innocent defendants; (2) defendants would rate larger sentence reductions either as more voluntary than smaller sentence reductions because they feel more fair or as less voluntary because they feel harder to reject; (3) defendants would rate guilty pleas as more voluntary when the plea offer was framed as a discount compared with a penalty; (4) penalty framing would differentially affect defendants offered large versus small sentence reductions; and (5) Alford pleas would differentially affect guilty versus innocent defendants. Method: Adults from Qualtrics Research Panels (N = 1,518; M age = 59.22 years; 52% male; 83% White, non-Hispanic) played the role of a defendant in a simulated plea decision-making process. They were either innocent or guilty of the accusation. The prosecutor offered them a plea deal that varied in sentence reduction size (smaller, versus larger), type (traditional versus Alford plea), and frame (plea discount versus trial penalty). Participants then decided how to plead and rated the voluntariness of the decision-making process. Results: Plea outcomes affected innocent and guilty defendants in slightly different ways. Innocent and guilty defendants were less likely to plead guilty when the plea offer had a smaller compared with a larger sentence reduction. However, innocent defendants were less likely to plead guilty overall, required more prompting from their defense attorney to plead guilty, and rated the plea decision-making process as less voluntary than did guilty defendants. Innocent defendants also rated the plea decision-making process as less voluntary when offered a smaller compared with larger sentence reduction and when they were offered an Alford plea compared with a traditional guilty plea. Framing the plea offer as a discount or a penalty did not affect defendants' perceptions of voluntariness. Conclusion: Variations in plea outcomes affect defendants' perceptions of voluntariness. Moreover, at least some courts' definitions of voluntariness do not align with how laypeople-and thus, possible defendantsview the same construct. Public Significance StatementInnocent and guilty defendants can be persuaded to plead guilty by their defense attorneys but might feel as though their decision is less voluntary as a result. Courts need to construct a comprehensive and clear definition of "voluntary pleas" that can be used to ensure that defendants make their own plea decisions and are not pressured or coerced by the criminal justice process. More research on this topic can help policymakers construct a scientifically informed definition.

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Section: Limitations and Future Directionssupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%