The Influence of Testimonial Aids, Victim Age, and Familiarity on Mock Juror Decision-Making in a Sexual Offence Case

The effects of witness mental illness and use of special measures in court on individual mock juror decision-making

“…These findings suggest that, at least for witnesses with depression, the use of a screen to shield the witness from the defendant can improve perceptions of witness competency and may be viewed favourably by individual jury members in the courtroom. Such findings are in line with previous research that has also found victims (Sheahan et al, 2021) and child witnesses (Collin et al, 2017) to be viewed more positively when a screen is used in court. One reason for this might be that participants in the study viewed this type of special measure as a means of protection from the defendant rather than as a limitation in their competency.…”

“…Conversely, jurors might view the witness with a mental illness more positively when special measures are used, as has typically been found so far with child witnesses and victims of sexual assault (e.g., Collins et al, 2017;Sheahan et al, 2021). Such findings might then align more with the assumptions of the patronisation effect discussed above (Gibbons et al, 1979).…”

“…Contrary to H4, there was no difference in ratings of defendant guilt when a screen or an intermediary was used compared to when no special measure was used in court. This was a somewhat unexpected finding, particularly for the use of a screen, given that previous research has shown mock jurors to be more likely to render a guilty verdict and assign higher guilt ratings to a defendant when this testimonial aid was used by victims in court (e.g., Sheahan et al, 2021). The difference in findings, however, might be explained by the fact that the present study used a witness as the person who testified in court instead of a victim.…”

“…Research concerning the use of an intermediary supporting a child witness found jurors rated their behaviour and the quality of the cross-examination more highly when an intermediary was involved during the process (Collins et al, 2017). In terms of a screen used to shield the victim from the defendant's view, mock jurors have been found to perceive a sexual assault victim more positively when this is used in court (Sheahan et al, 2021). The same researchers also found that jurors were more likely to assign higher defendant guilt ratings when a screen was used (Sheahan et al, 2021).…”

“…In terms of a screen used to shield the victim from the defendant's view, mock jurors have been found to perceive a sexual assault victim more positively when this is used in court (Sheahan et al, 2021). The same researchers also found that jurors were more likely to assign higher defendant guilt ratings when a screen was used (Sheahan et al, 2021). As such, the use of special measures with victims and with child witnesses might be viewed more favourably by jurors, although they could impact more negatively on defendants when used with victims in the courtroom.…”