Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Jeffrey Neuschatz
Committee Member
Aurora Torres
Committee Member
Jodi Price
Subject(s)
Criminal investigation, Eyewitness identification, Forensic psychology
Abstract
The goal of this study was to determine how varying witness information influenced jury verdicts for an individual identified in a photographic lineup. Participant-jurors (N = 145) read a criminal case and eyewitness testimony transcript before choosing a guilty or not guilty verdict for a selected individual. The witness’s quality of view, familiarity with the perpetrator, and neighbors’ input (hearsay) were manipulated. Identifications based on a facial view generated the same guilty rate as an identification based on culprit clothing or neighbor input. A witness with a very poor view received significantly less guilty verdicts. Verdict confidence did not differ significantly between conditions. Results suggest a lack of juror discriminability and potential bias to convict.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Brandi A., "The effect of misleading identification on juror decision-making" (2017). Theses. 229.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/229