NCJ Number
106620
Journal
Jurimetrics, Journal of Law Science and Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1987) Pages: 383-402
Date Published
1987
Length
20 pages
Annotation
In this study, 15 students in an undergraduate course in evidentiary processes in jurisprudence were given a list of 10 criminal offenses together with penalties.
Abstract
Subjects, assuming that the defendant was a white adult male indicted by a grand jury, were asked to estimate initial opinion of the defendant's innocence and an odd estimate representing the posterior opinion necessary for a vote to convict. The estimates reflected an a priori bias toward guilt, especially in cases of smaller consequences to defendants. Initial bias toward or away from guilt determined the strength of evidence necessary to convict. Those subjects more biased towards guilt seem not only to require less strength of evidence but also to have a lower standard for conviction. Initial biases towards innocence or guilt were intensified when taken together with subjective standards for conviction. This apparent bias effect required further study about the comparative weight assigned to evidence by people with different burden of proof values. 6 figures and 15 footnotes.