Applications

• Outline how improving appearance influences jury decision


  W - Improve appearance

  H -

  • Get the wit / def to dress smartly
  • Get wit / def to speak standard English
  • Take out piercings and cover tattoos
  • Encourage good posture - confidence

  Y - Dion found the Halo effect using 60 psych students and found notion of "What is beautiful is good", meaning if the wit / def presents themselves well, the jury is less likely to give defendant guilty verdict / more likely to believe witness
• Outline Story Order Model - Pennington + Hastie


  W - Story Order Model

  H -

  • Counsel for prosecution & defence presents evi in chronological order
  • Lawyers create timeline organising this
  • Enables jurors to use narrative to enhance memory of events
  • Jurors make own story based on evi at trial - may have few stories as heard different versions from pros + def
  • Judge sums up evi & advise jury to come to verdict
  • Juror matches story to verdict + judge provides alternative verdict decisions & jurors match account they constructed to decision
• What is the usefulness and effectiveness of the Story Order Model by Pennington + Hastie?

  Usefulness:

  • Provides lawyers with strategy to influence decision making of jurors to benefit client
  • Useful for jurors to create account and understand evidence

  Effectiveness:

  • Shown story order more effective than witness order
• Outline how expert witnesses influence jury 



  W - Expert witness

  H -

  • Used where scientific, technical or specialised area needs explaining in court and provide independent, impartial & unbiased evi to assist court decision
  • Have analytical reasoning & communicate findings + opinions clearly

  Y - Cutler:

  • Experiments investigating influence expert psychological testimony on juror decision
  • Experienced jurors + mock jurors
  • Videotaped trial & rated creditability of eyewit. & strength of cases to give verdict
  • Expert psychological testimony improved juror sensitivity to eyewit evi
• Outline how CSI effect influences jury


  W - CSI effect

  H / Y -

  • TV show impacts way jury perceives evi
  • Show portrays forensic science as "high tech magic" + claim this produced unrealistic expectations of evi & to expect too much of prosecution so defence harder to convince
  • Strong when comes to DNA but research proven juror often doesn't understand what this evidence is so more likely to be regarded as infallible
• Why is the order of a court case reliable?

  • Standardised procedure so does not change