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Juror Stress: Sources, Severity, Solutions Sonia Chopra, Ph.D. Chopra Koonan Litigation Consulting [email protected]

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Juror Stress: Sources, Severity, Solutions Sonia Chopra, Ph.D. Chopra Koonan Litigation Consulting Schopra@Choprakoonan.Com Juror Stress: Sources, Severity, Solutions Sonia Chopra, Ph.D. Chopra Koonan Litigation Consulting [email protected] The first comprehensive investigation of juror stress was conducted by the National Center for State Courts in 1998. A total of 401 jurors/juror alternates completed the study, which consisted of several measures devised or adapted by the researchers for this project. The jury duty survey consisted of 20 yes or no statements which were designed to reflect jurors’ impressions of their jury service and possible stress-related symptoms they experienced. The jury duty stress scale was comprised of 50 items related to events or characteristics of the juror experience. Jurors were asked to rate the stressfulness of each item on a five point Likert scale with response options ranging from “not at all stressful” to “extremely stressful.” The results indicated that the nature and length of the trial were related to stress responses, with longer trials and criminal, person centered trials creating the greatest amounts of stress. Nearly 2/3 of the death penalty jurors and 1/3 of jurors serving on person-centered criminal trials indicated that they found it necessary to talk to others about distressing aspects of their jury duty. Media accounts, reports of post-trial debriefing sessions and results of empirical research on the juror experience all point to the conclusion that jury duty can be a stress inducing experience for some jurors in the U.S. There are two primary procedural differences in the way the jury system operates in Canada as compared to the U.S. which have implications for juror stress: the process of jury selection and the laws governing juror discussion about the trial proceedings. In the U.S., potential jurors are regularly questioned about their background, experiences, and attitudes. In Canada, however, there is a presumption of impartiality, and therefore potential jurors are rarely questioned about their attitudes, experiences or biases during jury selection. The difference in screening procedures may impact upon stress levels. Jury selection was considered stressful for jurors in the NCSC sample, and may or may not be seen as stressful for Canadian jurors. On the other hand, if a biased juror makes it through the selection process, this could lead to more contentious deliberations. Lastly, without pre-trial screening, there is no way to determine which jurors might be more susceptible to experiencing stress at levels that might effect their ability to serve effectively. U.S. jurors are usually free to discuss any aspect of the trial, the deliberations, and even other jurors with whomever they want once the trial has concluded. Canadian jurors are subjected to s.649 of the Criminal Code, which limits jurors’ post-trial discussion and expressly prohibits discussion of jury deliberations. Previous research on jury stress done in the U.S. suggests that jury deliberations can be a stress inducing aspect of jury service. Of particular importance, in light of the Canadian law prohibiting juror discussion of this potentially stress inducing aspect of the trial experience, is the finding that stress is greatest when jurors are unable to mitigate it’s effects by talking about it. There does exist one documented instance of stress reactions in Canadian jurors. Drs. Olley and Ogloff were recruited by a trial judge in Prince George, BC to conduct a post trial debriefing with jurors involved in a particularly disturbing case involving child sexual abuse. The session lasted just over two hours. Doctors Olley and Ogloff were limited in what they could talk to the jurors about, as s. 649 is in effect for psychologists, but it became clear to them that some of the issues that arose had to do with the deliberations, and they felt the debriefing could have been more effective if they had been allowed to discuss these concerns with the jurors. Method The current study is an exploratory attempt to replicate research done with U.S. jurors using a Canadian sample, with a focus towards assessing the sources and severity of stress reactions and the relationship between stress and a jurors’ desire to speak with someone about their experiences. An advertisement soliciting former jurors to participate in research which had the goal of learning about “how the jury system actually works” and exploring “ways of making it better” was placed in the Vancouver Sun on five occasions, and in the Province on one occasion between July of 2000 and March of 2002. 114 responses were received, of those, 83 individuals completed the interview. Three of the jurors were from civil trials, and were excluded, resulting in the final sample of 80 former jurors. Measures used in the interviews included the NCSC Jury Duty Survey, and Jury Duty Stress Scale, as revised to better reflect the Canadian as opposed to U.S. juror experience, a version of Horowitz’s Impact of Events Scale, which measures symptoms associated with reactions to stressful situations, questions about jurors’ need for discussion, both during and after the trial, and whether or not they did in fact talk to someone, the nature of any post-trial judicial contact, and, jurors’ feelings about section 649 of the criminal code. The interviews were conducted in-person, over the phone, or both. Prior to beginning the interview, participants were read s.649 of the Criminal Code and were provided with a layperson’s definition of the section, so they would be aware of what they could and could not discuss. Results Table 1 depicts juror’s self-perceptions about stress levels experienced. Table 1 Item N % I experienced stress as a result of my jury duty 53 66.3 I think other jurors experienced stress during jury duty 67 83.8 I think stress had an effect on the thinking of some jurors 50 62.5 I think stress had an effect on the decisions of some jurors 38 47.5 Something should have been done to reduce our stress levels 32 40 Two-thirds of jurors indicated that they had experienced stress as a result of their jury duty, and an even larger percentage, 83.8%, thought that other jurors had experienced stress during their jury service. Nearly two-thirds of the jurors interviewed thought that stress influenced the thinking of other jurors, and 47.5% felt that stress had an effect on the decisions of some of the jurors they had served with. Forty percent of respondents expressed the belief that something should have been done to reduce the level of stress experienced by their jury. Common suggestions for stress reduction included providing some sort of post-trial debriefing or discussion, improving the juror conditions, providing more instruction about the decision- making task and the juror role, and expanding the breadth of questioning allowed during jury selection. Sources of stress questions were coded from 0 to 4, with 0 representing “not at all stressful” and 4 representing “extremely stressful.” The top two sources of juror stress were experienced by a small percentage of jurors. The item with the highest mean stress rating was serving as jury foreperson, which had a mean of 3.13 (SD = 1.36). The second strongest source of stress was making parole eligibility recommendations for the accused, an item with a mean stress rating of 2.83 (SD = 1.27). The other top ten stressors, can be seen here in Table 2. Seven of the top ten sources of juror stress are related to reaching a verdict and the deliberation process. Again, under section 649 of the Criminal Code, Canadian jurors are not allowed to discuss the deliberations with anyone at any time, even after the trial has concluded. The nature or characteristics of the trial and the witnessing of disturbing or graphic evidence were also perceived as stressful for some jurors. Table 2 Source of Stress M SD N Deciding on a verdict 2.33 1.51 78 Hung jury 2.21 1.47 29 Jury deliberations and discussions 2.05 1.53 80 The nature or characteristics of the crime 1.90 1.37 80 Dissension/differences among jurors 1.75 1.34 76 Fear of making a mistake 1.64 1.62 78 Disturbing/grisly evidence 1.55 1.29 71 Sequestration during deliberations 1.26 1.41 72 Ban on discussing the case with family/friends 1.25 1.28 79 Being in a minority position during deliberations 1.25 1.44 56 Several items in the interview tapped into the types of reactions jurors had to the trial experience. The modified Impact of Events Scale contains 15 items assessing specific reactions to the trial, and the Jury Duty Survey contains 6 items related to juror stress responses. These items can be interpreted as measuring symptoms of intrusion, symptoms of avoidance or numbing, and symptoms of increased arousal. The seven items in Table 3 are interpreted as measuring symptoms of intrusion. A large percentage of jurors indicated thinking about their experiences when they didn’t mean to, and having pictures of the trial pop into their minds Table 3 Intrusion Items N % I have disturbing memories of my jury duty 17 21.3 I thought about it when I didn’t mean to 53 66.3 I had waves of strong feelings about it 47 58.8 I had dreams about it 20 25 Pictures about it popped into my mind 54 67.5 Other things kept making me think about it 41 51.3 Any reminder brought back feelings about it 37 46.3 Table 4 lists the 11 items that were interpreted as being indicative of avoidance or numbing reactions. Overall, this type of reaction seemed to be less common amongst this group of jurors than symptoms of intrusion.
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