Contemporary study: Bradbury M D and Williams M R (2013) Diversity and Citizen Participation: The Effects of Race on Juror Decision Making.
To investigate whether the racial makeup of a jury affects its decision making.
Specifically;
That black defendants will be more likely to be convicted by juries composed of a higher number of white jurors.
That black defendants will be more likely to be convicted by juries composed of a higher number of hispanic jurors.
The data for the current study was originally collected by another team of researchers for a study of actual hung jury verdicts in noncapital felony cases in Maricopa County, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Bronx, New York; and Washington, D.C.
The authors collected data for trials held in 2000 and 2001 to compare juries that convicted defendants with juries that deadlocked.
The data included type of charge, sentence, jury decision, demographic characteristics of defendants and victims, jury selection, trial evidence and procedures, and jury deliberations.
Bradbury and Williams selected trials with only Black defendants, as they comprised approximately 60% of all defendants across the jurisdictions.
The dependent variable was a conviction or not. This considered convictions on only some (or one) of the charges brought to trial and/or being convicted of lesser charges.
Therefore, a conviction on any charge is coded as a conviction. Acquittals and hung juries were coded as “no.”
The independent variable was the racial makeup of the jury, measured by the percent Black, percent White, and percent Hispanic groups serving on the jury.
The strength of the prosecutor’s case was measured by the quantity of evidence and witnesses the prosecutor presented during trial, this was because conviction is more likely when the prosecutor’s case is relatively strong.
Case type was considered, which included whether the defendant was charged with a violent crime or a property crime. Violent crimes and property crimes were used as dummy variables for the study with drug crimes being the reference category to be measured.
Juries comprising a higher percentage of White jurors are more likely to convict Black defendants.
Juries comprising a higher percentage of Hispanic jurors are more likely to convict Black defendants.
Juries were less likely to convict Black defendants of violent crimes when compared with drug crimes.
Juries were less likely to convict Black defendants of property crimes when compared with drug crimes, though this is only marginally significant.
The consistent pattern of Black defendants being more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than for violent crimes, regardless of jury composition by race raises the issue of whether the criminal justice system is generally tougher on Blacks charged with drug-related offenses than for violent crimes.
The findings also suggest that attorneys for Black defendants can increase the odds of an acquittal by seeking out Black jurors. Jurors may be biased in their decision making due to in-group/out-group bias. This suggests that jurors should represent a community and not share characteristics with a defendant.
Public participation in jury service should make careful consideration of which members of the public are, and are not, participating, as this may influence the deliberative process and/or result.
Evaluate the contemporary study by Bradbury and Williams (2013). (8) June 2017