Title

Assessing juror understanding of capital-sentencing instructions

Abstract

Although recent research has suggested that juror understanding of sentencing instructions in capital cases is limited, jurors in most slates retain responsibility for determining whether a defendant receives the death penalty. Using data collected from 258 individuals who were called for jury duty in a midwestern city, the present study demonstrates that (1) jurors' comprehension of sentencing instructions is limited, (2) the particular areas of misunderstanding tend to place the defendant at a disadvantage, (3) juror understanding can be improved by rewriting state death penalty pattern instructions, and (4) comprehension levels also may be increased by providing jurors with a written copy of the instructions. Unfortunately, the effects that this research may have on legal policy are unclear. © 1998 Sage Publications, Inc.

Publication Date

1-1-1998

Publication Title

Crime and Delinquency

Volume

44

Issue

3

Number of Pages

412-433

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128798044003005

Socpus ID

22044455660 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/22044455660

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS