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Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juror Comprehension of Contested Mtdna Evidence Final Technical Report

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Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juror Comprehension of Contested Mtdna Evidence Final Technical Report The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juror Comprehension of Contested mtDNA Evidence Final Technical Report Author(s): B. Michael Dann, Valerie P. Hans, David H. Kaye Document No.: 211000 Date Received: August 2005 Award Number: 2002-IJ-CX-0026 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juror Comprehension of Contested mtDNA Evidence FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT Judge B. Michael Dann (Ret.) Visiting Practitioner Fellow National Institute of Justice Professor Valerie P. Hans Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice University of Delaware Regents’ Professor David H. Kaye College of Law Arizona State University December 30, 2004 This project was supported by Grant No. 2002-IJ-CX-0026 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This page intentionally left blank for printing purposes This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Table of Contents Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... v Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 – Introduction to the Research Project ........................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 – Literature Review........................................................................................................ 3 Concerns About Juror Understanding of DNA Presentations .................................................... 3 The Innovations: Available Evaluative Research .................................................................... 11 Juror Note Taking ................................................................................................................. 11 Juror Questions of Witnesses................................................................................................ 15 Juror Checklists or ................................................................................................................ 19 Juror Notebooks .................................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 22 Chapter 3 – Research Design and Methodology........................................................................... 23 Research Design ....................................................................................................................... 23 Study Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 23 Obtaining Volunteers for the Study .......................................................................................... 24 The Mock Jury Procedure......................................................................................................... 25 The Mock Trial: State v. Kevin Jones...................................................................................... 27 The Mock Jury Sample ............................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 4 – Study Participants’ Science Backgrounds and Attitudes .......................................... 33 Mock Jurors’ Science and Mathematics Background............................................................... 33 Participants’ Attitudes Toward Science and Technology......................................................... 34 Participants’ Preexisting Views about the Reliability of Scientific and DNA Evidence ......... 37 Chapter 5 – Juror Comprehension of mtDNA .............................................................................. 41 Mock Jurors’ Views of Witness Credibility and Evidence Strength ........................................ 41 Comprehension of mtDNA Evidence ....................................................................................... 43 Juror Comprehension Scale ...................................................................................................... 50 Concerns about Reliability and Contamination of mtDNA...................................................... 52 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 54 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Chapter 6 – Jury Innovations: Use, Attitudes and Effects ........................................................... 55 Note Taking .............................................................................................................................. 55 Frequency of Note Taking and Jurors’ Impressions of Note taking ..................................... 55 Who Takes Notes? ................................................................................................................ 57 Analysis of Notes in the Note taking Condition ................................................................... 58 Use of Notes in Deliberations ............................................................................................... 58 Juror Questions of the Expert Witnesses .................................................................................. 59 Frequency of Juror Questions and Jurors’ General Impressions and Support for the Procedure .............................................................................................................................. 59 What Do Jurors Ask? ............................................................................................................ 59 Checklist (Decision Trees) Relating to DNA Evidence and Issues.......................................... 62 Juror Use of the Checklist..................................................................................................... 62 How Does the Checklist Benefit Jurors? .............................................................................. 63 Support for Provision of Checklists in Jury Trials................................................................ 63 Multi-Purpose Juror Notebooks................................................................................................ 64 Frequency of Notebook Use ................................................................................................. 64 Jurors’ Reactions to Notebooks ............................................................................................ 64 Recapitulation of Major Findings Regarding Juror Use of and Support for the Four Innovations................................................................................................................................ 65 The Impact of Trial Innovations on Jury Comprehension of Scientific Evidence ................... 67 Summary of Impact of Innovation Analyses ............................................................................ 72 Chapter 7 – Jury Deliberations ..................................................................................................... 75 General Observations about the Deliberations ......................................................................... 75 Selection of the Presiding Juror and the Jury Deliberation Process ......................................... 77 The Frequency and Effects of Jurors’ Evidence Combination Statements .............................. 78 Chapter 8 – Summary of Findings and Conclusions and Some Practical Suggestions for DNA Practitioners .................................................................................................................................
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