Saks et al.: The Impact of Neuroimages in the Sentencing Phase of Capital Trials

Professor Dr. Michael J. Saks of Arizona State University, Professor Dr. N. J. Schweitzer of Arizona State University, Dr. Eyal Aharoni of the RAND Corporation, and Professor Dr. Kent A. Kiehl of the University of New Mexico have published The Impact of Neuroimages in the Sentencing Phase of Capital Trials , Journal of Empirical Legal Studies , 11(1), 105-131 (2014).

Here is the abstract:

Although recent research has found that neurological expert testimony is more persuasive than other kinds of expert and nonexpert evidence, no impact has been found for neuroimages beyond that of neurological evidence sans images. Those findings hold true in the context of a mens rea defense and various forms of insanity defenses. The present studies test whether neuroimages afford heightened impact in the penalty phase of capital murder trials. Two mock jury experiments (n = 825 and n = 882) were conducted online using nationally representative samples of persons who were jury eligible and death qualified. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental conditions varying the defendant’s diagnosis (psychopathy, schizophrenia, normal), type of expert evidence supporting the diagnosis (clinical, genetic, neurological sans images, neurological with images), evidence of future dangerousness (high, low), and whether the proponent of the expert evidence was the prosecution (arguing aggravation) or the defense (arguing mitigation). For defendants diagnosed as psychopathic, neuroimages reduced judgments of responsibility and sentences of death. For defendants diagnosed as schizophrenic, neuroimages increased judgments of responsibility; nonimage neurological evidence decreased death sentences and judgments of responsibility and dangerousness. All else equal, psychopaths were more likely to be sentenced to death than schizophrenics. When experts opined that the defendant was dangerous, sentences of death increased. A backfire effect was found such that the offering party produced the opposite result than that being argued for when the expert evidence was clinical, genetic, or nonimage neurological, but when the expert evidence included neuroimages, jurors moved in the direction argued by counsel.

Filed under: Applications, Articles and papers, Research findings Tagged: Empirical methods in legal communication studies, Eyal Aharoni, Influence of evidence on jurors' legal decision making, Influence of visual evidence on jurors' legal decision making, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Jurors' legal decision making, Jurors' legal decision making in capital cases, Kent A. Kiehl, Legal communication, Legal communication in capital cases, Legal evidence in capital cases, Legal evidence information systems, Michael J. Saks, N. J. Schweitzer, Neuro images, Neuro images as level evidence, Neuro images in capital cases, Neuroimagery as legal evidence, Trial communication, Visual evidence, Visual legal evidence, Visualization of legal information



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