Persuading A Jury - Pickel

Pickel - Inadmissable evidence includes hearsay, past convictions and evidence obtained illegeally. If IE is presented a judge will ask the jury to disregard it, however, by drawing their attention to it, the jury pay more attention to it.

Aim: Investigate mock jurors' ability to disregard inadmissable evidence.

Method & Procedure: experiment; Independent measures design; 236 student participants; listened to audiotape of a fictional theft trial;then reach a verdict;Critical evidence introduced 'accidentally' by a witness and judge rule's it as inadmissable.

Results:

• Inadmissable (with legal exp) = 55% GV - higher percentage
  

• Inadmissable (no legal exp) = 43% GV - act as if they never heard it
  

• Control group (no evidence presented)  = 42% GV - act as if they never heard it
  

Conclusion: It'd seem calling attention to inadmissable evidence makes it more important to the jury they pay more attention to it.