Jury In The Criminal Justice System (From Jury - Proceedings of Seminar on The Jury, 20-22 May 1986, P 143-153, 1986, Dennis Challinger, ed. See NCJ-103890)

• NCJ Number: 103897
• Author(s): J A Scutt
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This paper considers ways to reduce juror biases due to cultural conditioning and to enhance jurors' abilities to evaluate expert testimony and evidence in complex commercial cases.

Abstract

When jurors and defendants have been conditioned by different cultural values, special efforts must be made to educate both the defendant and the jury about cultural factors that have a bearing on the case. Possible prejudices in jury members should be addressed through jury education. Some have argued that lay juries are not capable of assessing the objectivity and evidentiary value of expert testimony. Courts should screen expert evidence prior to trial to ensure that only objective and relevant evidence is presented. The education of jurors in the nature of forensic evidence and expert testimony would also enhance jurors' ability to evaluate such evidence. The proposal to eliminate lay juries in complex commercial cases does not ensure more just case dispositions and would remove dispositions in important cases from public input. Overall, jury decisionmaking could be enhanced by educating judges to instruct jurors in matters relevant to just decisionmaking in particular cases and educating jurors in unbiased and insightful decisionmaking. 10 references.