5. More Defendant Characteristics

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we continue with the theme of defendant characteristics, focusing in particular on: (i) key papers by McCoy & Gray (2007) and Ahola et al. (2009) investigating the impact of defendant gender on jury decisions; (ii) one outcome of this bias being that female defendants are considered as less capable of violent crime than male defendants, resulting in a greater likelihood that a jury will deem a female defendant’s violent act as accidental; (iii) age as a factor, noting that older defendants are often deemed more trustworthy and are given lighter sentences than younger defendants; (iv) some North American research evidence on the disparity in sentencing leniency between different races and ethnicities.

Course

In this course, Professor Ciaran O’Keeffe walks through two vital parts of the legal system process – evidence collection and courtroom psychology. In the first lecture, we think about the range of biases that can arise in the collection and processing of forensic evidence. In the second lecture, we focus on fingerprint analysis as a type of forensic evidence. In the third lecture, we move on from forensic evidence and begin to explore techniques of jury persuasion, targeting three key models of persuasion. Next, three defendant characteristics which can impact jury decisions of guilt or innocence are outlined: regional accents, race, and crime type. In the fifth lecture, we continue this discussion, broadening to characteristics of gender, age, and attractiveness. In the sixth and final lecture, Professor O’Keeffe brings to light an issue which has been documented back to the mid nineteenth century, but presents itself as increasingly important in the modern age of internet access – pre-trial publicity.

Lecturer

Professor Ciarán O’Keeffe is associate professor of education and research and head of the School of Human and Social Sciences at Buckinghamshire New University. Professor O’Keeffe’s research interests include investigative psychology and parapsychology, and has made numerous television and radio appearances alongside an array of celebrities. Some of Professor O’Keeffe’s recent publications include 'Things That Go Bump In The Literature: An Environmental Appraisal of 'Haunted Houses'' (2020) and 'Restorative Justice and Recidivism: Investigating the impact of victim-preference for level of engagement' (2014).