The differential effects of *American and British trial proceedings on juror decision-making

Seven basic elements differentiate British from American trial procedures: confining attorneys to their tables; dealing with objections outside the presence of the jury; resolving disagreements between attorneys prior to objections being made; presenting the defense opening statement at the close of the prosecution case; the judge directly questions witnesses and has a wider latitude in controlling the evidence; and the judge gives a summation of all the evidence presented to the jury (Fulero & Turner, 1997). The present experiment examined the influence of these different courtroom procedures, judges' non-verbal behavior, and evidence strength on juror decision-making. Using models of persuasion to understand how the varying elements may effect juror decision-making, it was predicted that trials following American courtroom procedures would be more distracting for jurors and as such, they would be more likely to rely on the peripheral cue of the judge's expectations for trial outcome as expressed in his nonverbal behavior. In trials following British procedures jurors should be less distracted and better able to scrutinize the strength of the evidence that in turn should minimize the influence of the judge's nonverbal behavior. Two hundred forty-five participants viewed a mock civil trial in which courtroom procedure, judge's nonverbal behavior, and evidence strength were varied. Analyses suggest that courtroom procedure and evidence strength influenced the direction of participants' verdicts, but that judge's nonverbal behavior did not have a direct impact on verdict preference. Judge's nonverbal behavior appeared to influence other measures related to verdict. Participants were more confident in their verdicts when they agreed with judge's nonverbal behavior and when they viewed British courtroom procedures. Participants were more likely to return estimates of the defendant's liability that reflected judge's nonverbal behavior and a congruency with evidence strength. Participants also recalled more facts in the British conditions than in the American conditions. These findings are interpreted as indicating the importance of the impact of trial procedures and of nonverbal influence. ^

Eyewitness decision -making with showups: Probative or perilous?

Showups are a technique of eyewitness identification in which a single suspect is presented to a witness for identification. Showups are controversial. Defense attorneys argue that they are suggestive and place suspects at undue risk of false identification. Prosecutors and police officers argue that showups are an indispensable investigative tool and are no more suggestive than other identification techniques. Are showups probative or perilous? If so, what can be done to improve their accuracy? This investigation converged on this question by addressing three interrelated goals. The first was to examine the effect of two system variables, retention interval and suspect clothing, on showup accuracy. The second was to determine if showups are more suggestive than lineups. The third goal was to explore carryover effects from showups to subsequent lineup identifications. ^ Eyewitness performance was evaluated with the Eyewitness Identification Paradigm. Approximately 500 undergraduate students at FIU witnesses a staged event (i.e., a "crime") in their classrooms and subsequently participated in a showup and/or lineup identification test. Half of the identification tests contained the target (i.e., the "perpetrator") and half contained a target-substitute (i.e., an "innocent suspect"). ^ The results of this study indicated that, overall, showups are not unusually prejudicial and are no more suggestive than lineups. However this study identified two specific conditions under which showups are likely to lead to false identifications of an innocent suspect. First, false identification are likely to occur in showups that are conducted shortly after a crime when the suspect is wearing clothing similar to that worn by the perpetrator. Second, placing an innocent suspect in both a showup and then a lineup substantially increases the chances that the suspect will be falsely identified in the lineup. The implications of these findings for the conduct of eyewitness investigations are discussed. ^

Eu tenho os meus direitos: análise de audiências de conciliação em um JECRIM de Natal

This research aims at examining, within the scope of Legal Anthropology, the constitution processes of Criminal Small-Claims Courts-JECRIMs in Brazil seeks to discuss, from the making of ethnographic work, the relationship between forms and dynamics of Justice distribution both at national and local level. To do so, one performed an ethnography at a JECRIM in the city of Natal, analyzing resulting peculiarities arising from the works the Judge-Coordinator and all of the other Judicial Actors in order to bring to reality the proposals of Law 9.099/95. Such ethnography has also enabled the analysis of the interactions between both Judicial Actors and Claimants, with or without private attorneys. The theoretical framework included several topics, including processes of conflict legalization, performance and representation analysis, and relationships between law, morality, feeling and ritual. One sought to a critical reading of the current state of conciliation and mediation, taking into account both legal and theoretical parameters on the subject. At the end, a general guideline of State action in conflict management is drawn, revealing some aporias and contradictions when voluntary processes are made mandatory by the State-Punisher.

Bias on the Bench: How Judges’ Legal Backgrounds Influence Their Decisions

The ideal conception of a judge is that of a neutral arbitrator. However, there exist good reasons to believe that personal characteristics, including professional experiences, bias judges. Such suspicions inspired two hypotheses: (1) judges that are former prosecutors are biased in favor of the government in criminal appeals; (2) judges that are former criminal defense attorneys are biased in favor of the criminal appellant. These hypotheses were tested by gathering professional information about state supreme court judges in the south during the years from 1995 until 1998. That was then matched to an existing database that recorded those judges’ demographics and decisions in criminal appeals during that time. Logistic regressions of that data revealed that despite when other characteristics, including gender, race, and legal experience, were accounted for, criminal defense remained a statistically significant predictor. Judges with a background in criminal defense were more likely to reverse criminal court decisions. In contrast, prosecutorial experience was not a good predictor of how a judge ruled. Judges that had backgrounds in prosecution did not rule much differently than those that did not have such a background.

La Corona y el control del reconocimiento nobiliario: la actividad del fiscal de la Real Chancillería de Granada a examen. Análisis y documentos

Se analizan y estudian aquí las averiguaciones hechas en 1590 sobre las actuaciones en pleitos de hidalguía de los fiscales de Granada desde 1579 a 1590, así como se edita una colección documental que viene a resumir la misma. Averiguaciones efectuadas por el oidor Benavente de Benavides, estuvieron centradas en el fiscal Diego de Amézaga y están insertas en la Visita de don Juan de Acuña a la Chancillería de Granada. La minuciosidad de esta actuación, su naturaleza netamente jurídica y las consecuencias que tuvo, aportan una nueva visión sobre estos contenciosos que en determinados casos han sido definidos por la historiografía como meros trámites y que sin embargo poseyeron una complejidad y una dureza, en cierto modo, hasta ahora inadvertida.

A review of the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank

Members of the General Assembly asked the Legislative Audit Council to review the operations of the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank, a state agency that awards grants and loans to local and state agencies primarily for large transportation construction projects. The primary audit objectives were to review compliance with state law and policies regarding: The awarding of grants and loans for transportation construction projects ; The use of project revenues and whether funds dedicated to specific projects have been comingled with funds dedicated to other projects ;• Proper accounting and reporting procedures ; The process for repayment of revenue bonds ; Hiring of consultants, attorneys, and bond credit rating agencies ; Ethics.

Teaching / learning process through the case method in the law degree

This project in teaching innovation and improvement aims to disseminate the case method as one of the most innovative educational instruments inteaching of Law in general, and specifically with regard to Family and Inheritance Law. The methodology used ensures learning through a legal conflict, which must be resolved by the students themselves from different viewpoints as legal agents. This is an activity in teaching innovation, in which students become the protagonists. Participation is voluntary, and the main aim is student motivation. The subject's aim is for students to learn public speaking skills fundamental to the profession while familiarising themselves with judicial practice. Theteacher sets up a legal conflict in order for students to resolve the dispute as legal agents with divergent viewpoints - in other words, as judges, attorneys, lawyers and so on. The project seeks alternatives to traditional teaching methods and is an innovative teaching method aimed at professionally training future lawyers as well as being a model that involves students more in their own learning.

Uniform Guidelines for the Selection of Circuit Public Defender Selection Panels

The 2007 Indigent Defense Act provides that each county must elect its representative(s) from the active licensed attorneys who reside within each county to serve on its Circuit Public Defender Selection Panel. The procedures included in this document have been adopted by the Commission on Indigent Defense for the Election of the Circuit Public Defender Selection Panels and the Nomination of Circuit Public Defenders.