Opening up a can of worms: how do decision-makers decide when witnesses are telling the truth?

Correctly determining witness credibility is integral to a fair trial. Assessments of credibility made by the triers of fact are made, amongst other things, by reference to behavioural stereotypes that are commonly thought to be associated with lying and truth-telling. These stereotypes are worthless but pervasive. In this study, potential jurors were given information such as would be given by way of judicial direction and/or expert testimony on those behavioural indicia that are useful in detecting deception. Major changes in perceptions of what does and does not work were found. This has significant implications for the conduct of criminal trials. Recommendations are presented which, it is argued, can be of real, practical, assistance in enabling decision-makers to assess the credibility of witnesses. © 2013 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.

Non-similar fact propensity evidence: admissibility, dangers and jury directions

Propensity evidence remains one of the most obscure areas of evidence law. The uncertainty concerning its admissibility stems largely from a failure to identify the precise forms that such evidence may take and the exact dangers typically associated with each type of propensity evidence. Propensity evidence comes in three basic forms: similar fact evidence; relationship evidence; and where it is part of the res gestae. This article focuses on relationship evidence and res gestae propensity evidence and examines the circumstances in which such evidence should be received. The jury directions that ought to accompany such evidence are also considered.

Murder, self defence, defensive homicide?

Research focussed on recent amendments to Victorian homicide defence legislation, investigating community decisions in cases where a fatality followed an alleged sexual assualt. Findings suggest that legislation may not match community sentiment and jurors require comprehensive instructions. Further, relationship history, accused, deceased and juror gender have an impact on verdict.

Does free recall moderate the effect of mental context reinstatement instructions on children's cued recall?

Cognitive Interview instructions increase children's recall of events; one important instruction is the mental reinstatement of context. We examined one factor that may affect mental context reinstatement: whether children had the opportunity to freely recall the event before answering cued recall questions. One hundred and fifty-two children aged 6, 9, or 11 years were interviewed twice about a staged event. The event consisted of an argument between two adults about whose turn it was to show the children a film. One week after the event, some of the children received mental context reinstatement instructions before having their cued recall tested. Some children also received a free recall test immediately before the cued recall test. In the second interview, 2 weeks after the first interview, all children freely recalled the event. The results showed no effects of mental context reinstatement instructions and no moderating effect of free recall on children's cued recall. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

At what age can females consent to sexual activity? A survey of jury-eligible Australians

One suggested reason for the low conviction rates of alleged child sexual abuse offenders relates to the attitudes and beliefs the public hold about such victims; sexual interactions starting at an earlier age; and because the oversexualisation of children and teenagers portrayed in the media may have affected perceptions as to when females are capable ofgiving consent to sexual interactions. A sample of 580 jury-eligible participants completed six implicit questions via an online survey regarding females' capacity to consent. While participants had similar perceptions in response to the type of question asked, there were some differences due to respondent group. When significant differences were observed, women had significantly lower estimates of the age at which female adolescents can make informed decisions about sexual activity than men, as did respondents who had children and were older. Working with children had little impact. The legal implications of these findings are discussed.

Simulated jury decision making in online focus groups

Purpose – A significant issue in jury research has been the use of individual jurors to analyse jury decision-making. This paper aimed to examine the applicability of computer-mediated communication to a mock jury deliberation study.

Design/methodology/approach – Groups of three to five Australian residents anonymously attended a secure chat room and participated in a semi-structured discussion about a simulated child sexual assault scenario. Deliberation transcripts were analysed thematically using NVivo. A hermeneutic framework was used to analyse the deliberation transcripts.

Findings – Five interrelated themes were revealed, each reflecting the tools online juries used to communicate, create meaning, and arrive at a verdict. Electronic jury deliberation promoted an understanding of how people make sense of child sexual assault cases in Australia today.

Originality/value – This study advanced the understanding of online decision making in a child sexual assault scenario. It demonstrated that knowledge of how juries deliberate and create meaning could improve our understanding of how verdicts are achieved. Electronic mock juries are a valuable adjunct to traditional jury deliberation studies because they are cost effective, time efficient, and offer wider recruitment opportunities.

Mock jury attitudes towards credibility, age, and guilt in a fictional child sexual assault scenario

Low conviction rates of child sexual assault (CSA) remain a persistent social problem in Australia. One reason for this may be the impact of attitudes regarding the victims when the evidence is weak. This article examines the effects of victim age on perceptions of credibility and verdict in a CSA case. Eleven electronic focus groups deliberated a fictional CSA case, in which the age of the child was systemically varied between 6 and 15 years. Deliberation transcripts were analysed with NVivo (Version 9, QSR International Pty Ltd., Burlington, MA, USA), from which thematic clusters were derived. Results showed that as the child's age increased, credibility and guilty verdicts decreased. In addition, testimony alone had little impact in influencing the verdict. These findings suggest that in lieu of corroborating evidence, increasing supporting information, such as expert testimony, and providing structured deliberation for the jury may reduce the influence of victim blame, particularly when the child victim is older.