Psychology and law exam 2
Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)
A 1984 federal law passed after the Hinckley trial, requiring that there be a presumption of sanity and that defendants prove "by clear and convincing evidence" that they were insane at the time of the crime.
Sell v. the United States (2003)
A U.S. Supreme Court case that held that an incompetent criminal defendant who was not a danger to himself or others could be forcibly medicated if and only if such treatment was (1) medically appropriate; (2) unlikely to have side effects that would undermine the trial fairness; and (3) necessary to further a significant government interest, such as the prosecution of a serious crime.
Indiana v. Edwards (2008)
A U.S. Supreme Court case which held that the dignity and fairness of the trial process required that a judge appoint an attorney for a competent but mentally ill defendant if necessary. The case also called for a higher level of competence than competence to stand trial.
multiple regression
A statistical technique that combines a large group of variables to predict an outcome variable. For example, multiple regression might be used to try to predict the verdicts of juries by using the characteristics of jurors as predictor variables.
knowing, voluntary, and intelligent
A standard for competency to plead guilty; a defendant who admits guilt must understand the charges and the potential consequences of conviction and must plead voluntarily, without coercion.
closing argument
A statement made by an attorney after all the evidence in a case has been presented. Its purpose is to persuade jurors that one interpretation of the evidence is correct.
estimator variables
Factors that are outside the control of the legal system and that are related to the accuracy of an eyewitness identification (e.g., weapon focus, lighting conditions, etc.).
system variables
Factors that are under the control of the legal system; most commonly used in eyewitness identification research (e.g., lineup procedures).
not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)
a defense that suggests that, due to severe mental illness, defendants should not be held criminally responsible for behaviors because mental illness significantly affects their ability to understand and control their actions
Competency Screening Test (CST)
a forensic assessment instrument used to measure individuals' competency to stand trial. Participants complete 22 sentence fragments as a test of their knowledge of legal proceedings
3. double-blind lineups
a lineup (or photo spread) in which neither the administrator nor the witness knows who the suspect is in the lineup
facilitator
a non suggestive prompt that cues the child to continue with an ongoing response ex: "okay," "yes," "uh-huh"
competency to plead guilty
a person can plead guilty if that plea is "knowing, voluntary, and intelligent"
coverage
amount of evidence accounted for by a particular story
guilty but mentally ill (GBMI)
an alternative verdict in which the defendant is found guilty of the crime and sentenced to prison with treatment for his or her mental health problems
hypnotic hypermnesia
an improved ability to recall information while hypnotized
competence
an individual's sufficient present ability to meaningfully participate in and perform necessary personal or legal functions Does the individual have sufficient present ability to perform necessary personal or legal functions
irresistable impulse
an insanity defense based on defendants' inability to control their behavior at the time of the offense, even if the defendant may have known the act was wrong
locus of control
how people tend to explain what happens to them by locating the cause of behavior either internally or externally
Research shows that jurors place undue faith in the reliability of eyewitnesses
place too much weight on eyewitness confidence and are not very skilled at distinguishing between accurate and inaccurate eyewitnesses
Foster v. Chatman (2016)
prosecutors notes shown in which they indicated they were looking for race, sided with Black defendant
supplemental juror questionnaires
questionnaires that prospective jurors fill out before voir dire. These questionnaires are submitted by attorneys and approved by the judge; questions might include information about personal experiences
retrieval
refers to accessing and pulling out the stored information at a later time
storage
refers to holding the encoded information in the brain over time
9. avoiding the use of showups
refers to presenting a single person to an eyewitness and asking the eyewitness whether or not that person is the one who committed the crime
venire
the group of prospective jurors who show up in court and who could be selected to serve on a jury for a particular case
first-degree murder
the highest charge of homicide, requiring that the perpetrator engaged knowingly in the premeditated killing of another human being
Scientific jury selection
use of empirical evidence by jury consultants to assist with jury selections
scripts
widely held beliefs about sequences of actions that typically occur in particular situations
expert witnesses
witnesses who offer testimony based on specialized knowledge, training, or experience
actus reas
("guilty act") the physical act of committing a crime
mens rea
("guilty mind") An awareness of the wrongfulness of one's criminal conduct. In modern times, the term has come to refer to blameworthiness in a general sense and more specifically, to various legally specified mental status (e.g., premeditation) necessary to commit certain crimes
Explanation-based models
(e.g., the story model) as they hear the evidence in a case, jurors create a story that leads to a verdict
4. appropriate lineup fillers
(or foils or distractors) the nonsuspects in a lineup (or photospread); they should closely resemble each other and match the eyewitness verbal description of the offender
Durham standard
(or product test) An insanity standard under which the defendant is not held criminally liable if the crime was caused by a mental illness.
Racial diversity in the jury Sommers 2006
-200 participants serving jury duty deliberated in the trial of a Black defendant -varied 1. racial makeup of the jury 2. racial content of pretrial questions
Errors in eyewitness testimony data
-4,500 people wrongly convicted due to mistaken identification each year -overall rate of correct identification is 42% -rate of false identification is 36% -responsible for 71% in wrongful convictions- more than any other type of evidence
Jury size
-6 person and 12 person juries tend to return the same verdicts -compared to 6 person, 12 person juries: deliberate longer recall evidence more accurately produce more consistent verdicts include a broader cross-section of the community
Are jurors biased against defendants?
-Big picture- no. Strongest predictor of verdict is the strength of evidence -Defendant characteristics: wealth, social status, gender- no systematic influence attractiveness- slight leniency bias, unless attractiveness is directly related to the crime moral character- compare moral character of defendant to that of victim race- whites judge Black defendants more harshly than white defendants. But depends on racial context of the trial
plea bargaining concerns
-a guilty plea is a waiver of constitutional rights, and should be "voluntary and knowing" -instead, pleas tend to happen quickly and perfunctory -prosecution has much more power in the process choose charging options- may "overcharge" to create pressure greater access to evidence and information -vulnerable defendants: cognitive impairment, mental illness, juveniles -11% of known wrongful convictions involves a false plea of guilty
Issues with evaluators
-diagnosis of a mental disorder is NOT directly relevant to competency to stand trial -over 2/3 of people with sever mental disorders are still competent to stand trial -past reports often focused on diagnosis of mental illness -evaluator's decision is extremely influential in the judge's decisions- especially if the defendant is judged incompetent
Traditional police interviewers conducted
-fail to establish rapport -interrupt witnesses during their narratives -ask too many closed questions -ask leading and suggestive questions
Interviewing child witnesses-what tends to happen
-first questioned by untrained adult -suggestive methods -use of props, methods -repeat questions, interviews
Which juror characteristics matter?
-gender, race, similarity-leniency hypothesis: Mixed. May affect process rather than outcome -authoritarianism -locus of control (internal vs. external) -belief in a just world -attitudes specific toward the legal system
Myths of the insanity defense
-it is overused/ abused by defendants -used in severe crimes like murder -it allows defendants to get off without a penalty -it is a loophole used by the defense to cheat the prosecution out of a courtroom
Aversive racism and the Batson test
-lawyers might not know that their decision was based on race -motivation to lie -easy to make-up race-neutral explanations, even if not true Research example: Sommers and Norton, 2007 -3 samples: college student, law student, and lawyers -read a case involving a black defendant, assumed the role of prosecutor -asked to strike one juror from the venire: either black of white with ambiguous qualifications
evidence-driven juries
-postpone voting until after evidence is discussed -have more thorough, probing discussions of the evidence
Reform: lineup procedures
-prelineup interview (e.g., cognitive interview technique) -evidence-based grounds for inclusion in lineup -double-blind lineups -appropriate fillers -prelineup instructions -obtain a confidence statement -video recording -avoid repeat identification procedures -avoid showups (which show a single suspect)
Why does the court care about competence and insanity?
-provide a fair trial for defendants -maintain the legitimacy of the criminal justice system
Reform: expert testimony
-research shows it is effective, but often not admitted -procedures established in prior cases weigh more heavily than the science
How does competency issue arise?
-someone (typically defense lawyer) raises the issue of the defendant's competency to stand trial -judge (almost always) orders a psychological evaluation -psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or social worker performs the evaluation -typically consists of interview, psychologist tests, and a review of the defendant's mental health history -evaluator prepares a written report summarizing the findings and typically testifies in court
Interviewing child witnesses-what is recomended
-structured protocol -grounded rules: ok to say you don't know, agree to tell the truth -open-ended prompts ("Tell me what happened", "what happened next?") -a single, recorded sample
Verdict-driven juries
-take a vote shortly alter beginning deliberation (30%) -orient discussion around verdict options -spend more time defending position, less time discussing evidence -straw polls are consequential-reveal the opinion majority position
Racial diversity on the jury
-the highest the proportion of whites on a jury, the harsher the jury is toward a non-white defendant Why would it matter? -minority jurors introduce new information/ perspective -minority jurors inhibit expressions of prejudice by white jurors
social media analysis
-the process of scouring the Internet—focusing on Facebook, Google, Twitter, and public records websites—to gather personal information and create a fuller profile of each potential juror's attitudes, interests, and experiences
Sample competency screening (3 parts)
-understanding: the ability to understand general information related to the law and legal proceedings -reasoning: the ability to discern the potential legal relevance of information and reason about the choices available to a defendant -appreciation: an awareness of the meaning and consequences of the proceedings in one's own case
Stages of jury selection
-venire (population of potential jurors) is drawn from voter registration lists -must be representative of community produce better decisions prevent prejudiced sentences by white jurors appearance of legitimacy -exclusions from the venire never received summons didn't show up blindness, non-English speaking, mental incompetence, non-citizen financial hardship, illness, caregiver for a child, vacation plans -voir dire (questioning of potential jurors) eliminate biased jurors and establish a "fair and impartial" jury increase satisfaction with the outcome -challenges for cause: dismissed because of relationship to the parties or the issues of the case -peremptory challenges: dismissed for any reason
various areas of legal competency
-waive Miranda rights -confess -execute a will or contract -stand trial
Functional elements of CST
1) Understand their current legal situation 2) Understand the charges against them 3) understand pleas available 4) understand possible penalties if they are convicted 5) understand the roles of the judge, defense counsel, and prosecutor 6) Trust and communicate with defense counsel 7) Help locate witnesses 8) aid in developing strategy for cross-examining witnesses 9) act appropriately during trial 10) make appropriate decisions about trial strategy
One study examined 347 cases in which the only evidence was eyewitness testimony
74% of cases, the defendant was convicted
Definition of CST (based on Dusky v. United States)
1. The ability to interact rationally with an attorney 2. the ability to understand how court processes work
3 step process for determining racial motivation
1. defense establishes purposeful discrimination by demonstrating that certain racial or ethnic groups were excluded from the jury 2. prosecutor gives race-neutral explanations 3. court evaluates prosecutor's reasons
5 criteria when evaluating claims of recovered memories of abuse
1. recovered memories that were recovered over time using suggestive or coercive techniques 2. began as vague images or feelings instead of clear, detailed recollections 3. involved repeated abuse that extended into adolescence (abuse after childhood is unlikely to be forgotten) 4. involve abuse that occurred before the age of 3 or in very early childhood (before enduring memories can be formed) 5. involve extremely rare forms of abuse (e.g., sexual abuse as part of satanic abuse)
CI techniques
1. social dynamics witness and interviewer -rapport -active witness participation 2. maximize witnesses' and interviewers' cognitive processing 3. facilitating communication between the interviewer and witness
jurors used 3 things when constructing a story
1. the evidence presented at trial 2. their personal knowledge of similar events 3. their expectations for what makes a complete story
Neil v. Biggers (1972) Manson v. Braithwaite (1977)
2-pronged test for excluding eyewitness testimony from trial Manson: "nevertheless reliable" Court majority- view: within 2 feet attention: high description: detailed passage of time: only 2 days had passed
Judgment of Incompetence
5% of felony defendants are evaluated, 11-30% are judged incompetent -common reasons are schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and intellectual disorders -most common outcome: competency is restored and defendant goes on to stand trial (60-90% of cases) -if competency is not restored, charges must be dismissed. In some cases, defendant remains in a treatment facility or is civilly committed
Dusky v. United States (1960)
A US Supreme Court case that defined the qualifications for being judged competent to stand trial. The "test must be whether [the defendant] has sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding- and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him."
Panetti v. Quarterman (2007)
A US Supreme Court case that held that a criminal defendant needs more than a mere factual awareness of the state's justification for execution but must also understand the meaning of the punishment
Jackson v. Indiana (1972)
A US Supreme Court case that limited that period of confinement of a defendant judged to be incompetent to the time necessary to determine if the defendant could be returned to competency in the forseeable future
Madison v. Alabama (2019)
A US supreme court case clarifying that the critical question in determining whether someone is competent to be executed is "whether a prisoner's mental state is so distorted by a mental illness' that he lacks a 'rational understanding' of 'the State's rationale for [their] execution.' Or put differently, the issue is whether a 'prisoner's concept of reality' is 'so impair[ed]' that he cannot grasp the execution's 'meaning and purpose' or the 'link between [his] crime and its punishment.'"
peremptory challenge
A challenge to dismiss potential jurors without giving a reason and without approval from the judge; each attorney has a small number of peremptory challenges.
second-degree murder
A charge of homicide that requires a lesser intent to kill. Also known as involuntary manslaughter.
M'Naughten Rule
A common insanity standard in the United States. It consists of four components: 1. a presumption that defendants are sane and responsible for their crime; 2. a requirement that, at the moment of the crime, the accused must have been laboring "under a defect of reason, from disease of the mind; 3. a requirement that the defendant "did not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing," or 4. "if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong"
anosognosia
A condition in which people suffering from a mental illness lack awareness of their illness and often see medication as unnecessary for treatment
restoration of competency to stand trial
A defendant's acquisition or reacquisition of the abilities required to be able to stand trial; it typically involves treatment with antipsychotic medication.
affirmative defense
A defense in which the defendant bears the burden of proof in a trial, such as a legal finding of insanity in most jurisdictions
mens rea defense
A defense that concedes the defendant committed the crime but argues that the defendant lacked the capacity to possess the mental state required for the crime.
ALI standard (or Model Penal Code)
A definition of insanity proposed by the American Law Institute (ALI), which states, "A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law."
evidence-driven style
A deliberation process in which juries postpone the first vote until after jurors have had a careful, systematic discussion of the evidence. This style appears to produce richer, more probing discussions than a verdict-driven style.
verdict-driven style
A deliberation process in which juries take a vote shortly after they begin deliberations and then orient their subsequent discussions around the verdict options. This style of deliberation tends to encourage jurors to sort the evidence into two categories: supporting conviction or supporting acquittal.
anatomically detailed dolls
A doll with realistic male or female genitalia; used to help reluctant children show investigators the type of sexual abuse that may have been perpetrated against them.
Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R-CRAS)
A forensic assessment instrument that attempts to translate the legal standards of insanity into components such as the ability to control one's thoughts and the ability to control one's behavior
cognizable group
A group of potential jurors that share a characteristic that distinguishes them from other potential jurors. Jurors of the same gender or race constitute a cognizable group.
liberation hypothesis
A hypothesis predicting that in cases where the evidence is ambiguous or less than compelling, jurors will be "liberated" from the constraints of evidence and will base their decisions on factors such as prior beliefs, past experience, or even prejudice.
similarity-leniency hypothesis
A hypothesis predicting that jurors who are similar to the defendant will empathize and identify with the defendant and thus be less likely to convict.
closed circuit television (CCTV)
A method for allowing a victim to testify without being physically present in the courtroom. A large television in the courtroom enables the defendant, judge, and jury to see the testimony, but the victim and attorneys are in another room. It is sometimes used in child abuse cases so that a child victim can avoid testifying in the presence of the defendant.
one day or one trial system
A method to make jury service less burdensome. Potential jurors who are selected to serve fulfill their jury duty after the trial is over. Those who are not selected fulfill their jury duty at the end of the day.
authoritarianism
A personality trait with the following characteristics: conventional values, rigid beliefs, intolerance of weakness, identification with and submission to authority figures, and suspicion of and punitive attitude toward people who violate established norms and rules.
retribution (or just deserts)
A perspective on punishment that suggests that punishment for a crime should be proportionate to the harm caused. It is intended to make the harmed party feel that justice has been served by punishing the perpetrator.
cross-race effect
A phenomenon affecting eyewitness identification in which people have more difficulty recognizing the faces of people outside their racial group than the faces of those within their racial group.
competency for execution (CFE)
A prisoner's present ability to rationally understand the connection between the prisoner's crime and the prisoner's approaching execution.
overrule the objection
A ruling by a judge that an attorney's objection to testimony or evidence presented at trial is not valid.
sustain the objection
A ruling by a judge that an attorney's objection to testimony or evidence presented at trial is valid and that the testimony or evidence should be ignored by the jury.
Civil Trial Bias Scale
A scale consisting of 16 items designed to measure attitudes about the appropriate role of government in regulating businesses, appropriate standards for workplace and product safety, and whether or not most civil suits are justified.
Revised Legal Attitudes Questionnaire (RLAQ)
A scale developed to assess attitudes that might be related to verdicts in criminal trials. Using a Likert scale, it measures responses to 30 statements about the legal process.
Juror Bias Scale (JBS)
A scale developed to measure jurors' beliefs about how likely it is that someone who is on trial for a crime actually committed that crime, and how certain a juror needs to be before convicting a defendant. The scale also measures general cynicism about the legal system and has been shown to predict how a juror will eventually vote
Pretrial Juror Attitude Questionnaire (PJAQ)
A scale that builds on the items in the Juror Bias Scale and uses a Likert format; it consists of 29 items divided into six subscales.
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA)
A shorter, 22-item version of the MacArthur structured Assessment of the competencies of Criminal defendants (MacSAC-CD) designed to measure a defendant's competency to stand trial. This test takes about 30 minutes to administer and is designed to be used by clinicians who are performing competence evaluators for the courts
weapon focus effect
A stress-related effect in which an eyewitness's ability to recognize a perpetrator is impaired if the eyewitness sees the perpetrator holding a weapon and focuses his or her attention on that weapon because it poses great danger. Consequently, the eyewitness pays less attention to other important details of the crime, like the face of the criminal.
cognitive interview
A subtle, step-by-step procedure designed to relax the witness and to reinstate mentally the context surrounding the crime. The goal is to improve the retrieval of accurate information while avoiding the increased suggestibility of hypnosis.
compensatory damages
A sum of money awarded to a plaintiff in a civil case for the purpose of compensating the plaintiff for losses caused by the defendant
Kahler v. Kansas (2020)
A supreme court case finding that a state is not required to have an insanity defense per se (i.e., a defense that would allow a verdict of not guilty for a defendant who did not understand the difference between right and wrong), as long as the state has some defense that addresses the issue of insanity by recognizing how mental illness could affect a defendant's actions (e.g., a mens rea defense)
Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome
A syndrome hypothesized to occur in children who have been victims of sexual abuse; it is characterized by feelings of helplessness, confusion, and fear.
Forseeable future
A term used in the US Supreme Court decision in Jackson v. Indiana (1972); the period of confinement of a defendant judged incompetent to stand trial is limited to the time necessary to determine if the defendant could be returned to competence in the 'forseeable future'
policeman at the elbow test
A test of the irresistible impulse insanity defense, requiring that the defendant's impulse had to be so overwhelming that the defendant would have committed the act even if a police officer had been standing beside the defendant at the time of the crime
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
A widely used psychological test in evaluations of competency to stand trial. It is a general measure of psychopathology based on a participant's responses to 567 true-false questions. It offers information on the participant's psychological distress, symptoms, and possible diagnosis
8. avoiding repeated identification procedures with the same witness and suspect
A witness's earlier exposure to a suspect increases the probability that, in the second procedure, the witness will identify the suspect as the culprit
Evaluation of competency to stand trial-revised (ECST-R)
An 18-item assessment instrument designed to measure a person's competency to stand trial; it uses a semistructured interview to specifically assess a defendant's factual or rational understanding of courtroom proceeding as well as the defendant's ability to consult with counsel
MacArthur Structured Assessment of the Competencies of Criminal Defendants (MacSAC-CD)
An 82-item test designed to measure a defendant's competency to stand trial. The defendant is presented with some version of a standard vignette and then must answer open-ended and true-false questions about the vignette. The test assesses the defendants' understanding of the legal system, reasoning skills, and appreciation of their circumstances
cognitive test
An insanity test that emphasizes knowing and understanding whether one's actions are right or wrong. Does the defendant understand what he or she is doing? Does the defendant know what he or she is doing is wrong?
inventory of legal knowledge
An instrument specifically designed to detect feigning/malingering in the CST context. This 61-item true/false test is designed for English-speaking defendants who have some knowledge of the American criminal justice system.
unconscious transference
An unintentional act in which a face that is familiar from some other context is transferred to the scene of a crime.
broad test
Are the defendant's actions caused by a mental illness?
Strander v. West Virginia (1880)
Ban on African American jurors is unconstitutional
volitional test
Can the defendant control his or her actions?
Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
Defendant only has to show a pattern of discrimination in their own case
presumption of competency to stand trial
Defendants are presumed to be competent unless proven otherwise. The defense bears the burden to prove incompetence.
Swain v. Alabama (1965)
Defense must show pattern of discrimination across a series of cases
ultimate issue testimony
Expert testimony that specifically answers the legal question in a particular case. It answers the question that the trier of fact (a judge or jury) must decide.
Stovall v. Denno (1967)
Eyewitness identification obtained using unnecessarily suggestive technique should be excluded
Manson criteria
Five factors, as set forth in Manson v. Braithwaite (1977), that should be taken into account when evaluating the accuracy of an eyewitness's identification: (1) the witness's opportunity to view the perpetrator, (2) the witness's level of attention, (3) the accuracy of the witness's previous description of the offender, (4) the degree of certainty displayed by the witness, and (5) the amount of time between witnessing the crime and making the identification.
burden of proof
In a court of law, the duty of one party to prove affirmatively the facts of its side.
dynamite charge
In an effort to break a deadlock that might result in a hung jury, the judge asks the jurors to go back, reexamine the evidence, review each other's arguments, and try to reach a verdict.
story model
In describing jurors' decision-making processes, a model that proposes that jurors create stories to make sense of the evidence presented at trial; a story is defined as a causal chain of events. A causal claim: An event causes a psychological reaction in a "character" that motivates them to respond with action, which has consequences
leniency bias
In evenly split juries, where roughly half the jurors favor "guilty" on the initial vote and the other half favor "not guilty," the process of deliberation will favor acquittal.
shadow jury
In high-stakes trials, a group of people who are selected to match the demographics of the actual jury and sit in the courtroom during the real trial. This surrogate jury provides feedback to the attorneys about their reactions to the evidence.
Ground rules
In interviewing children about possible sexual abuse, rules for the discussion that intended to help the child understand that it is the child's account of events that is important and that the child should not feel pressure to provide an account that is not true.
contextual or functional approach
In the evaluation of competency to stand trial, an approach requiring that evaluators assess the specific demands of the particular legal case in determining an individual's ability.
preinstructions
Instructions read to the jurors by the judge before a trial begins.
Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968
Legislation mandating that federal and state courts assemble juries that constitute a "fair cross-section of the community."
antipsychotic medication
Medication used to reduce the severity and frequency of psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations and delusions) experienced by severely mentally ill patients. Side effects may include muscle tremors, muscle rigidity, and a risk of developing tardive dyskinesia.
recovered memory
Memories "supposedly repressed" recovered during psychoanalysis can be influenced by the "unwitting" suggestions made by the therapist during the psychotherapy process.
Other reasons for jury makeup statistics
Minority group members less likely to be registered to vote, financial hardship, toss jury request
change of venue
Moving the trial to a community that has not been exposed to pretrial publicity and its potentially biasing effects.
Miller-El v. Cockrell
New emphasis on the credibility of prosecutor explanations -"comparative juror analysis": you can see how each individual juror was treated -questioning varied by race -used jury shuffling when black jurors were in front -other evidence from District Attorney's training materials
How to tell if a particular memory is true or false
Nobody has developed a neurophysiological procedure that can be used to predict whether a single memory is true or false
hearsay testimony
Testimony about what someone else said outside of court. Such testimony is often permitted when a child is the alleged victim, with an adult testifying about what the child said.
ironic processes
Processes in which we make an effort not to think about something, often resulting in that thing's dominating our thoughts, especially when we are under stress and much of our mental capacity is already in use.
forensic assessment instruments (FAIs)
Psychological tests designed to answer questions specific to a particular legal standard.
Scientific jury selection: Does it work?
Research Horowitz (1980) -neither method superior in all cases -when the relationships between juror characteristics and decisions are strong, decisions are more predictable -when relationships are not strong, better off rely on lawyer's experience and intuition, especially if lawyer is skilled
opening statements
Statements made by attorneys for both sides at the beginning of a trial. These statements highlight the issues at stake and provide jurors with an overview of evidence that will be heard.
statutory exclusions
Statutory transfer policies in certain states, automatically requiring adolescent defendants who commit certain serious crimes and are of a certain minimum age to be tried in adult court.
Hinckley case
The 1983 trial of John Hinckley for the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan. The court used the ALI standard for determining whether the defendant should be found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). Because the burden of proof for showing insanity rested on the prosecution instead of the defense, Hinckley was found NGRI. Public outcry for this verdict led to the 1984 Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA).
competency to waive an attorney
The ability to understand the legal consequences of self-representation and to carry out the responsibilities of self-representation. The Supreme Court held that, for a mentally ill defendant, competency to waive an attorney can have a higher standard than competency to stand trial.
jury pool
The citizens in a particular geographical area who are identified as being eligible to serve on a jury; they must speak English, be over the age of 18, be mentally competent, and never have been convicted of a felony.
pretrial publicity
The coverage of a high-profile case, in the newspapers, on Web sites, on television, and in other forms of media before the trial even begins.
voir dire
The final stage of the jury selection process during which lawyers and judges question potential jurors to uncover juror biases and to determine who will be chosen to serve on a particular jury
insanity
The legal concept referring to the criminal's state of mind at the time the crime was committed. It requires that, due to a mental illness, a defendant lacks moral responsibility and culpability for the crime, and therefore should not be punished.
retrieval inhibition
The phenomenon in which selectively retrieving only some aspects of a scene inhibits recall of other aspects.
redirect examination
The questioning conducted by an attorney of his or her own witness after cross-examination.
recross examination
The questioning of an opposing attorney's witness after direct examination, cross-examination, and redirect examination.
cross-examination
The questioning of an opposing side's witness during a trial.
open conflict
The second phase of a deliberation process, in which differences in opinion among members of the jury become apparent and coalitions may form among members of the group.
Beyond a reasonable doubt (BRD)
The standard of proof used in criminal trials. To convict a criminal defendant, the jury or judge must be strongly persuaded (i.e., have no reasonable doubt) that the defendant is guilty. The prosecution bears the burden of convincing the jury or judge of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
reactance theory
The theory that people are motivated to maintain their sense of freedom in the face of threats to that freedom. For example, jurors may perceive a judge's admonition to ignore inadmissible evidence as a threat to their freedom to make a decision based on all the available evidence. Jurors may react to that threat by giving the inadmissible evidence greater weight than they would have otherwise.
adjudicative competence
The types of abilities needed to participate effectively in all stages of the legal process. It consists of two components: (1) foundational competence—a basic understanding of the trial process as well as the capacity to provide a lawyer with information relevant to the trial; and (2) decisional competence—the capacity to make informed, independent decisions.
civil trials
Trials in which a plaintiff sues a defendant for an alleged harm. If the defendant is found liable, monetary damages are typically awarded.
Decision rule
Unanimous juries: -deliberate longer -are more likely to hang (5.6% vs. 3.1%) Majority rule juries: -take votes more often (become more verdict driven) -tend to hold discussion when required majority is reached -allow majority to "overrule" an opinion minority
2. Evidence-based grounds for putting suspects in lineups
Unique fit to description, self-incriminating statements made, suspect has materials linked to the crime, suspect in area at time of the crime, physical evidence links suspect, fits general physical description
wild beast test
Used formerly to determine whether a person is insane, it defines insanity as a mental deficiency in "understanding and memory" and asks whether a defendant acted like a "wild beast."
challenge for cause
a challenge to dismiss a potential juror during voir dire because of bias or prejudice that makes the juror unable to render an impartial verdict
external locus of control
a characteristic of people who sees their outcomes in life as due to forces outside them
internal locus of control
a characteristic of people who tend to see their outcome in life as due to their own abilities or efforts
arraignment
a court proceeding in which a defendant charged with a crime appears before a judge who reads the charges against the defendant, "How do you plead?" The defendant's basic choice is to plead either "not guilty" or "guilty"
directive
a cued-recall prompt that focuses the child's attention on information already mentioned and requests additional information of a specific sort, typically using wh-questions (who, what, when, where) ex: "What color was that shirt?" (when the shirt had been mentioned)
deterrence
a perspective an punishment that suggests that offenders should be punished so that they can learn that committing a crime leads to punishment (i.e., specific deterrence) and so that other similarly situated individuals will vicariously learn that such actions lead to punishment (i.e., general deterrence). The idea is that instilling fear of punishment in people will prevent future criminal acts
general deterrence
a perspective on punishment that suggests that offenders should be punished so that other similarly situated individuals will vicariously learn that criminal actions lead to punishment. The idea is that instilling fear of punishment in people will prevent future criminal acts
specific deterrence
a perspective on punishment that suggests that offenders should be punished so that they learn that committing a crime leads to punishment. The idea is that instilling fear of punishment in people will prevent future criminal acts
plea bargaining
a process by which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a less serious charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence that might be imposed if the case were to go to trial -more than 90% of felony cases are decided through the plea bargaining process -"A system of pleas, not a system of trials"
informational influence
a process in which jurors change their opinions because other jurors make compelling arguments
normative influence
a process in which jurors change their votes (but not necessarily their private views) in response to group pressure
flexible standard
a standard of competency to stand trial that may be raised or lowered depending on the complexity of the trial and the abilities a defendant will need to navigate a particular legal proceeding
Preponderence of the evidence standard (POE standard)
a standard of proof often used in civil cases. For example, in determining competency to stand trial, the defense must prove that it is incompetent. That is, a judge or jury must be more than 50% certain that the defendant is incompetent
clear and convincing evidence
a standard of proof used in civil commitment hearings, falling between the less demanding standard of preponderence of the evidence (used in most civil cases) and the more demanding standard of beyond a reasonable doubt (used in criminal cases). It is often equated with "highly probable" by courts
hypnosis
a technique for inducing a relaxed, focused state in which the subject is highly receptive and responsive to suggestions made by the hypnotist
gold standard
a test or measurement definitively establishes some fact or truth; in forensic assessments, there are typically no gold standards- for example the competency or incompetency of a defendant
Mental State at the Time of Offense Screening Evaluation (MSE)
a test that attempts to assess whether a defendant's crimes were influenced by a significant neural disorder
Cued invitation
a type of invitation that refocuses the child's attention on details that the child mentioned and uses them as cues to prompt further free-recall of information ex: "You mentioned [action]; then what happened?"
memory hardening
a witness who vividly imagines an event under hypnosis may become more confident that the imagined event is an accurate memory
Problems of eyewitness memory for children
ability to encode, store, and retrieve memories is not fully developed high risk of inaccurate reports
NICHP Investigative Interview Revised Protocol
an interviewing technique designed for investigating child sexual abuse cases. The protocol encourages the child to provide as much information as possible to open-ended questions. Suggestive questions are carefully avoided to reduce bias.
invitation
an open-ended request that the child recall information about the incident. Can be formulated as a statement, question, or imperative. ex: "tell me more about that"
bona fide doubt
any reasonable or "good faith" doubt
aversive racism
attitudes toward racial groups that include egalitarian values and negative emotions, causing one to avoid interaction with group members -divergence between explicit and implicit attitudes Research example: job candidate study IV 1: race IV 2: qualifications (strong, medium, or weak) medium or mixed qualification: showed bias for white candidates
direct examination
attorney's questioning of their own witnesses
5. prelineup instructions to eyewitnesses
bias-reducing instructions
coherence
consistent, plausible, and complete
volitional capacity
defendants' ability to control their behavior at the time of the offense
impeachment evidence
evidence intended to damage the credibility of a witness's statements
clinical psychologists and psychiatrists
experts in the study and treatment of various forms of psychological dysfunction and mental illness
Estimator variables
factors that are out of the legal system's control, affect encoding reform: expert testimony
System variables
factors that the legal system can control, affect retrieval reform: change in policies/ procedures
uniqueness
if jurors construct more than one acceptable story, they are less likely to believe either story, and the confidence in both stories goes down
high stress
impairs memory and consequently reduces the rate of correct identification
high stress impact on memory
impairs memory and reduces accuracy also: weapon focus effect
punitive damages
in a civil case, damages (monetary fines) awarded to the plaintiff for the purpose of punishing the defendant for irresponsible or malicious conduct and to discourage others from behaving similarly
jury nullification
in a criminal case, a phenomenon whereby the jury may base its verdict on reasoning that ignores, disregards or goes beyond the law. In part, this result is permitted because juries are expected to represent the moral conscience of the community, which may lead them to a different conclusion that the law prescribes
mathematical model
in describing jurors' decision making processes, models in which pieces of evidence are mathematically weighted to explain how jurors decide between a verdict of guilty or not guilty pieces of evidence shift the balance of the decision one way or another
inadmissable evidence
information that might be prejudicial and is therefore not admitted into evidence by the judge in a trial
bias-reducing instructions
instructions given to eyewitnesses before a lineup identification procedure, specifying that the true criminal might not be in the lineup, to counter the presumption that the witness is obliged to choose someone from the available options
1. prelineup interviews
interview witnesses ASAP, get info from witness and tell witness what not to do
encoding
involves gathering information and putting it in a form that can be held in memory
hung juries
juries that cannot reach a unanimous verdict
strong jurors
jurors who seem likely to have a disproportionate influence on the deliberation process
neurolaw
legal approach intending to show a link between brain abnormalities and an individual's illegal behavior
plea options
not guilt (23%) guilty (59%) no contest (not explicit admission of guilt but waive right to trial; 11%) -Alford plea (plead guilty while publicly maintaining innocence; 7%)
Adults' memories of sexual abuse
repressed/recovered? (Freudian theory) -process that protects the conscious mind from disturbing memories, thoughts, or behaviors -memories can later resurface False? (psychological research of the 1990s) -little evidence for repression -gaps can be explained by ordinary memory processes -people can develop memories of events that never occurred
scientific jury selection
selecting people to serve on a jury through the systematic application of social scientific expertise
6. obtaining an immediate postlineup confidential statement
taken immediately after the witness identifies the culprit and before any feedback is given to the witness
competency to stand trial
the ability to participate adequately in criminal proceedings and to aid in one's own defense
memory traces
the biochemical representations of experience in the brain- appear to deteriorate with time
repression
the concept that painful, threatening, or traumatic memories can be pushed out of conscious awareness and locked away in the unconscious for years or even decades; there is little evidence for the validation of this concept
studying mock jurors- offering a range of insanity instructions
the content of insanity instructions did not seem to matter
malingering
the deliberate feigning or gross exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms in order to gain a positive outcome or to avoid a negative outcome
7. video recording
the entire identification procedure, including prelineup instructions and witness confidence statement should be video-recordsed
reconciliation
the final phase of the jury deliberation process, which jurors reach a common understanding and agreement, or when one faction capitulates. Attempts may be made to soothe hurt feelings and make everyone feel satisfied with the verdict
orientation
the first phase of the deliberation processes during which juries elect a foreperson, discuss procedure, and raise general issues
belief in a just world
the tendency for people to believe that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
collateral sources of information
third parties who can offer useful information about the behavior of a person being evaluated by the court