Objective and Subjective Comprehension of Jury Instructions in Criminal Trials

McKimmie, Blake M.; Antrobus, Emma; Baguley, Chantelle

doi:10.1525/nclr.2014.17.2.163

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Reifman et al (1992) found that jurors only correctly understood half of the procedural instructions given by the judge about how to evaluate the evidence in the case. Similarly, McKimmie et al (2014) found when asked only one third of jurors accurately described procedural instructions (e.g., the burden of proof and the concept of reasonable doubt) in their own words. Rose and Ogloff (2001) found that participants’ comprehension of judicial instructions about evaluating witness testimony given by a coconspirator was consistently poor.…”

Section: Barriers To Conviction In Rape Trialsmentioning

confidence: 86%

The effect of trauma education judicial instructions on decisions about complainant credibility in rape trials.

Nitschke¹,

McKimmie²,

Vanman³

2023

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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Judicial instructions are a practical, but not always effective, way of providing education to jurors to help them evaluate the evidence given by witnesses. In this research, we investigated whether jurors comprehended and applied common judicial instructions intended to help the jury accurately evaluate the evidence given by a rape complainant without being influenced by legally irrelevant stereotypes about the complainant's emotional demeanor. We hypothesized that a trauma education instruction would improve participants' trauma knowledge and reduce participants' reliance on stereotypes to evaluate the complainant's evidence compared with standard witness instructions given about evaluating the credibility of witnesses at trial. In Study 1 (N = 165), participants were asked to read one of three judicial instructions (trauma education, stereotype education, or standard) and their comprehension of the instruction was assessed. In Study 2 (N = 1085), participants were asked to decide a typical adult rape case in which the complainant was distressed or unemotional after receiving one of three types of judicial instructions (no specific witness instruction, standard witness, or trauma education instruction). Across both studies, we found that trauma education instructions improved participants' trauma knowledge. Unexpectedly, we found that both the standard witness and trauma education instructions reduced the extent to which participants were influenced by stereotypes in evaluating the complainant's credibility but reduced perceptions of the complainant's credibility. These findings highlight the need for ongoing evaluation of educational instructions to ensure that they operate as intended to help jurors make accurate decisions in criminal trials.

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Section: Barriers To Conviction In Rape Trialsmentioning

confidence: 86%

The effect of trauma education judicial instructions on decisions about complainant credibility in rape trials.

Nitschke¹,

McKimmie²,

Vanman³

2023

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

Self Cite

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“…Much of the literature on lay-comprehension of law and legal concepts focuses specifically on the clarity and comprehensibility of judicial instructions, and how well juries understand and apply those directions when deliberating. 63,64 While an important area for academic consideration, once a case has been handed over to the jury it is too late to begin contemplation as to whether those not trained in law but present in court have understood what occurred. Confusion around legal obligations and rights pervades all aspects of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualisation of law and legal Process: An opportunity missed

McLachlan

Webley

2021

Information Visualization

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Visual representation of the law and legal process can aid in recall and discussion of complicated legal concepts, yet is a skill rarely taught in law schools. This work investigates the use of flowcharts and similar process-oriented diagrams in contemporary legal literature through a literature review and concept-based content analysis. Information visualisations (infovis) identified in the literature are classified into 11 described archetypal diagram types, and the results describe their usage quantitatively by type, year, publication venue and legal domain. We found that the use of infovis in legal literature is extremely rare, identifying not more than 10 articles in each calendar year. We also identified that the concept flow diagram is most commonly used, and that Unified Modelling Language (UML) is the most frequently applied representational approach. This work posits a number of serious questions for legal educators and practicing lawyers regarding how infovis in legal education and practice may improve access to justice, legal education and lay comprehension of complex legal frameworks and processes. It concludes by asking how we can expect communities to understand and adhere to laws that have become so complex and verbose as to be incomprehensible even to many of those who are learned in the law?

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“…Our findings should be considered in light of recent research on jurors’ assessment of expert evidence. One study found that attending to witness demeanour can override a full consideration of the strength of the witness’ testimony (McKimmie et al, 2014). Another found that jurors who perceived a prosecution expert to be confident were more likely to report that expert’s evidence as easy to understand and to perceive the prosecution case as stronger (Freckelton et al, 2016: para 9.37).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing Expertise: The Design of Audiovisual Links and the Construction of the Remote Expert Witness in Court

Rowden

Wallace

2018

Social & Legal Studies

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This article reports on empirical research conducted into the use of audiovisual links (videolinks) to take expert testimony in jury trials. Studies reveal ambivalent attitudes to court use of videolink, with most previous research focussed on its use for vulnerable witnesses and defendants. Our study finds there are issues unique to expert witnesses appearing by videolink, such as compromised ability to gesture and interact with exhibits and demonstrative tools, and reductions in availability of feedback to gauge juror understanding. Overall, the use of videolinks adds an additional cognitive load to the task of giving expert evidence. While many of these issues might be addressed through environmental or technological improvements, we argue this research has broader ramifications for expert witnesses and the courts. The use of videolinks for taking expert evidence exposes the contingent nature of expertise and the cultural scaffolding inherent in its construction. In reflecting on the implications of these findings, and on the way that reliability, credibility and expertise are defined and established in court, we suggest a more critical engagement with the relationship between content and mode of delivery by stakeholders.

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Objective and Subjective Comprehension of Jury Instructions in Criminal Trials

Cited by 16 publications

References 27 publications

The effect of trauma education judicial instructions on decisions about complainant credibility in rape trials.

The effect of trauma education judicial instructions on decisions about complainant credibility in rape trials.

Visualisation of law and legal Process: An opportunity missed

Performing Expertise: The Design of Audiovisual Links and the Construction of the Remote Expert Witness in Court

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