Mock Jurors’ Understanding of Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances

• In Event: Eyewitness Testimony, Wrongful Conviction and Jury Decision Making

Abstract

One issue jurors have when interpreting instructions during the penalty phase of a capital trial is understanding aggravating and mitigating factors and the behaviors or circumstances that contribute to each. In the present study, 129 students from an East Coast university served as mock jurors and read a real murder trial transcript about a man accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend’s 6 month old child. One purpose of this research was to examine whether the mock jurors could correctly respond to open ended questions asking them to define “aggravating circumstances” and “mitigating circumstances.” Preliminary results show an overall lack of understanding of the terms despite the fact the both terms were defined in writing for respondents. Generally, respondents confused aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and also provided incorrect or vague responses. In fact, fewer than 10% provided truly accurate definitions of either aggravating or mitigating factors.

Authors

• Shana L. Maier, Widener University

• Suzanne Mannes, Widener University

• Elizabeth E. Foster, Widener University