Law enforcement officers serving as jurors: Guilty because charged?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is unwise for a criminal defense lawyer to allow a law enforcement officer, former law enforcement officer, or relative/close friend of an officer to serve as a juror. This project examined the decisions of 2853 jurors of whom 235 reported being or having been a l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychology, crime & law Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 305 - 313
Main Authors Culhane, Scott E., Hosch, Harmon M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Taylor & Francis Group 01.09.2005
Subjects
Crime
Criminal justice
Criminal sentencing
Juries
Juror decision making
Law
law enforcement officers
Offenders
Schema Theory
voir dire
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Summary:Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is unwise for a criminal defense lawyer to allow a law enforcement officer, former law enforcement officer, or relative/close friend of an officer to serve as a juror. This project examined the decisions of 2853 jurors of whom 235 reported being or having been a law enforcement officer and 1348 reported knowing a close friend or relative who is or was an officer. Participants watched a videotape of a trial of a burglary of a habitation and were asked to give individual verdicts. Results indicated that the average conviction rate was 57.6%. Past and present officers did not differ in their conviction rate from non-officer jurors. Jurors who indicated knowing a past or present law enforcement officer did not convict the defendant more than those who did not know anyone in law enforcement. Implications for this research are discussed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:1068-316X
1477-2744
DOI:10.1080/10683160412331294826