University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Can jury instructions reduce the negative impact of pretrial publicity?
Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe increasing prevalence of pretrial publicity (PTP), media coverage of a case that occurs prior to a trial, raises concerns about fair trials. Jurors may rely on pretrial information rather than trial information to decide the fate of a defendant and may even confuse the sources of the information. While it is difficult to limit jurors’ exposure to PTP, jury instructions to improve memory for trial information may limit these effects. Participants (N=100) read negative PTP articles about a defendant. A week later, they were randomly assigned to jury instruction conditions (notetaking, question-posing, or standard) and watched a trial video about the case. Mock jurors who took notes and asked questions during the trial video were significantly better at remembering trial statements and attributing trial and pretrial information to its source than jurors who received standard instructions. However, instruction condition did not influence the number of guilty verdicts rendered.
Degree
thesis:*- Grantor dc:publisher
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Oxford, Skylar J.
- Contributors dc:contributor
-
- Warren, Amye
- Ross, David; Shelton, Jill T.
- College of Arts and Sciences
Subjects
dc:subject × 5Rights
dc:rights- Language dc:language
- English, eng
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Repository record dc:identifier
- https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/866
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2045