Deck 13: Jurors and Juries

Question 1

Byron is on trial for robbing a bank.The judge issues a limiting instruction so that information regarding the defendant's prior record can be used to gauge the defendant's credibility.Byron takes the stand during the trial and the prosecutor asks him about a previous conviction for a robbery committed 15 years ago.How might the jurors react to this information?

A)The limiting instruction is likely to be effective.
B)Byron is likely to be acquitted.
C)Byron is likely to be convicted.
D)It is likely to divide the jurors with females more likely to listen to the limiting instruction.

Answer 1

Byron is likely to be convicted.

Question 2

Juries in civil cases must decide

A)liability.
B)damages.
C)intent.
D)A and B

Answer 2

A and B

Question 3

Jury trials have been incorporated into the legal system of

A)Russia
B)South Korea
C)Brazil
D)all of the above

Answer 3

all of the above

Question 4

Jurors should decide liability on the basis of defendant

A)intent.
B)conduct.
C)guilt.
D)neglect.

Question 5

Evidence of a defendant's prior conviction

A)is never allowed at trial.
B)is usually introduced by the prosecution.
C)increases the likelihood of an acquittal on a subsequent charge.
D)increases the likelihood of a conviction on a subsequent charge.

Question 6

Dual-process models of information processing propose that people

A)rationally or deliberately evaluate the content of information
B)react to information quickly and without careful analysis
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B

Question 7

Character evidence can be used to provide evidence on guilt when it is relevant to

A)the alleged victim.
B)a witness.
C)the defendant.
D)all of the above

Question 8

According to Chapter 13, what is likely the most important determinant of jurors' verdicts in criminal trials?

A)a defendant's appearance
B)pretrial publicity
C)evidentiary strength
D)a defendant's demeanor

Question 9

Approximately _____________ of American adults have been called to jury duty.

A)1/3
B)2/3
C)1/4
D)4/5

Question 10

According to Kalven and Zeisel's (1966) liberation hypothesis, jurors are most likely to consider extralegal evidence when the prosecution's evidence is

A)strong
B)weak
C)unusual
D)unexpected

Question 11

According to Chapter 13, jurors place considerable weight on ________________ when determining verdicts in civil trials.

A)a plaintiff's appearance
B)pretrial publicity
C)the severity of the plaintiff's injury
D)the plaintiff's background

Question 12

Which of the following would be considered extralegal information?

A)a defendant's background
B)a defendant's appearance
C)pretrial publicity
D)all of the above

Question 13

The liberation hypothesis suggests that, when faced with ambiguous evidence, jurors

A)will decide in favor of the plaintiff in civil trials.
B)will decide in favor of the defendant in criminal trials.
C)will rely on their biases and assumptions to decide a case.
D)will decide in favor of defendants in both civil and criminal trials.

Question 14

Which of the following is a decision made in a civil case?

A)liability
B)damages
C)guilt
D)both A and B

Question 15

The right to trial by jury for criminal cases is provided by state constitutions and which amendment to the U.S.Constitution?

A)2nd
B)4th
C)6th
D)7th

Question 16

According to Chapter 13, why does evidence of a prior conviction increase the likelihood of conviction on a subsequent charge?

A)It shows a pattern of criminality.
B)Once jurors know of the prior conviction, they may need less evidence to be convinced of the defendant's guilt.
C)Knowledge of a prior record may lead jurors to think that because the defendant already has a record, an erroneous conviction would not be serious-this could lead jurors to need less evidence to be convinced of a defendant's guilt.
D)all of the above

Question 17

__________________is typically inadmissible because of its potential for prejudice.

A)Propensity evidence
B)Prior record evidence
C)Character evidence
D)None of the above

Question 18

Maurice has recently died from lung cancer.He smoked for 37 years and after his death, his family sued the cigarette manufacturer for elevating the nicotine level in their cigarettes.The jurors in this case need to determine the parties' respective responsibility for the harm that Maurice suffered.What kind of decision is this?

A)liability
B)guilt
C)damages
D)verdict

Question 19

Approximately what percentage of American adults have served as jurors?

A)10%
B)25%
C)40%
D)55%

Question 20

In 1999, the California Supreme Court in People v.Falsetta ruled on the issue of propensity evidence.They

A)ruled that propensity evidence should not be allowed under any circumstances.
B)ruled that propensity evidence may be introduced during the trial but may not be part of opening statements.
C)upheld the right of prosecutors to present evidence about the defendant committing other crimes.
D)upheld the right of prosecutors to present evidence about a defendant's history of committing sex crimes to jurors hearing sex offense cases.

Question 21

The psychological concept, reactance, may be used to explain

A)the difference in jury size from 12 to 6.
B)different reactions to the M'Naghten rule and the Brawner rule.
C)the effect of timing of the opening statement.
D)jurors' use of inadmissible evidence, after the judge has admonished them to disregard the information.

Question 22

Empirical evidence suggests that judges' instructions to jurors to disregard inadmissible evidence

A)are typically ineffective.
B)may result in jurors focusing even more on this information or evidence.
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B

Question 23

Instructing the jury at the beginning of the trial may benefit from the _______________ while instructing the jury at the end of the trial may benefit from the _______________.

A)preponderance effect; the boomerang effect
B)boomerang effect; preponderance effect
C)primacy effect; recency effect
D)recency effect; primacy effect

Question 24

Your knowledge of "anchor points" helps you advise your friend on how much to ask for in damages.What do you tell your friend?

A)Only ask for punitive damages.
B)Ask for less money as the reasonableness of your request will tend to cause the jurors to increase their award.
C)Do not request damages at all as you're likely to get a liability award that is bigger than if you had requested damages.
D)Ask for more money, as those who ask for more tend to receive more when the request is based on qualitative evidence.

Question 25

A principle of linguistics that may be helpful in the construction of jury instructions is

A)minimized use of abstract terms
B)decreased use of the passive voice
C)elimination of negatively modified sentences
D)all of the above

Question 26

Researchers investigating the effects of expert testimony on jurors' decisions have generally found that

A)jurors evaluated the testimony of the experts based on the expert's qualifications, the quality of the expert's reasoning and the expert's impartiality.
B)an expert's personality significantly affects decisions.
C)an expert's appearance significantly affects decisions.
D)the most important part of the expert's presentation is information regarding the expert's qualifications.

Question 27

Robbennolt (2000) found that people attribute greater responsibility to a wrongdoer when

A)the outcome is minor.
B)the outcome is severe.
C)there is more than one victim.
D)there are multiple minor outcomes.

Question 28

It has been estimated that juries spend at least ______ of their deliberation time trying to decipher the meaning of the judge's instructions.

A)20%
B)30%
C)40%
D)50%

Question 29

There is ample evidence that jurors in deliberation discuss insurance coverage when considering how much to award damages.Which of the following is a reasonable statement regarding these discussions?

A)Jurors should have this discussion as an award is required to be reduced by the amount already covered by the plaintiff's insurance.
B)Jurors should have this discussion because it is reasonable, although not required, for them to reduce the award amount because of insurance coverage.
C)Jurors should not have this discussion as the amount of insurance coverage is not relevant to the question of the amount of damages to award.
D)Jurors should not have this discussion as the true amount of insurance coverage is not usually available to jurors.

Question 30

According to research presented in Chapter 13, which of the following factors have some juries inappropriately considered in their decisions about damages?

A)attorney's fees
B)whether the loss is covered by insurance
C)how to conquer thought suppression
D)only A and B

Question 31

What have researchers found regarding jurors' abilities to understand the judge's instructions?

A)Many jurors are unable to understand the judge's instructions.
B)Jurors generally understand the judge's instructions.
C)Jurors may not understand the judge's instructions initially, but the judge's further explanations of the instructions often help.
D)Jurors often ignore the judge's instructions.

Question 32

The severity of an injury or accident is legally relevant to which decision in a civil case?

A)liability
B)guilt
C)damages
D)all of the above

Question 33

In 2005, ________ of winning plaintiffs received more than $1 million in damages.

A)14%
B)4%
C)8%
D)24%

Question 34

Jurors are not supposed to consider the attorneys' fees in their deliberations.What have researchers found with regard to this issue?

A)Jurors do not often discuss the topic of attorneys' fees.
B)Jurors often discuss the topic of attorneys' fees.
C)Attorneys' fees do not seem to have a direct impact on verdicts.
D)both B and C

Question 35

Juror decisions regarding liability should not be based on

A)pain and suffering of victim
B)severity of injury to victim
C)degree of emotional damage to victim
D)any of the above

Question 36

Which state was the first to finalize "plain-English" instructions for both civil and criminal trials?

A)New Jersey
B)California
C)Massachusetts
D)Utah

Question 37

How are verdicts generally affected by expert testimony?

A)Expert testimony exerts a small effect on jurors' decisions.
B)Expert testimony exerts a moderate effect on jurors' decisions.
C)Expert testimony exerts a large effect on jurors' decisions.
D)none of the above

Question 38

According to some research, jurors are not able to differentiate legitimate from flawed scientific research ___________________________.

A)unless opposing expert testimony speaking to the legitimate research is offered.
B)despite opposing expert testimony about the flaws of the research.
C)both A and B
D)neither A or B

Question 39

Trying "not to think of a white bear" increases the tendency to do the opposite, because the harder people try to control a thought, the less successful they are.This is described in Wegner's

A)thematic framework studies.
B)reactance studies.
C)belief perseverance studies.
D)thought suppression studies.

Question 40

The defendant's conduct (i.e., were his or her actions reckless?) is legally relevant to which decision in a civil case?

A)damages
B)guilt
C)liability
D)all of the above

Question 41

When jurors are exposed during the trial to a new piece of evidence, they tend to distort their evaluation of that evidence in a direction that supports their current verdict choice.What is this tendency called?

A)evidentiary distortion
B)current-to-future distortion
C)verdict predisposition
D)predecisional distortion

Question 42

The term "jury nullification" refers to the

A)power that the judge has to override the jury's verdict.
B)power that the jury has to render a verdict that is not unanimous.
C)power that juries have to render a verdict that is not in line with the law.
D)none of the above

Question 43

Jurors posting Twitter messages regarding a trial they are currently empaneled for may constitute a violation of a defendant's

A)First Amendment rights.
B)Fifth Amendment rights.
C)Sixth Amendment rights.
D)Fourth Amendment rights.

Question 44

Some research suggests that jury deliberations

A)May increase jurors' use of bias in their decisions.
B)May serve to correct jurors' individual biases.
C)May introduce new biases to jurors' decision-making.
D)None of the above

Question 45

According to Chapter 13, the practice of jurors asking questions of witnesses can

A)clarify jurors' understanding of the evidence.
B)enhance jurors' involvement in the trial.
C)create an environment more conducive to learning.
D)all of the above

Question 46

The jury system is only used in the United States and Canada.Justice officials decide cases in all other developed countries.

Question 47

The Supreme Court recently ruled that any contested fact that increases the penalty for a crime (except for a prior conviction) must be determined by the judge, not the jury.

Question 48

Drawbacks of jury discussions during trial include

A)facilitating premature judgments about the evidence.
B)diminishing the quality of jury deliberations.
C)producing more interpersonal conflicts prior to deliberations.
D)All of the above

Question 49

In Horowitz et al.'s (2006) study on jury nullification, they found that nullification instructions affected jurors' decisions in the

A)murder case.
B)euthanasia case.
C)assault case.
D)all of the above.

Question 50

The sympathy hypothesis suggests that

A)The general public is sympathetic to civil plaintiffs.
B)The general public is suspicious of civil plaintiffs.
C)The general public is suspicious of corporate defendants.
D)Both B and C

Question 51

Regarding the possibility of nullification by the jury, generally

A)the jury has this right but not the power to do so.
B)the jury is explicitly told that they have the right and power to nullify.
C)the jury neither has the nullification right, nor the power to disregard the law and evidence and find the defendant not guilty.
D)the jury is not explicitly told that they have this right but they still have the power.

Question 52

An argument against the use of juries in complex civil litigation cases is

A)The evidence is too difficult for laypeople to understand.
B)Voir dire procedures result in less capable jurors.
C)Jurors are asked to absorb and retain excessive amounts of information.
D)All of the above.

Question 53

When many plaintiffs sue together and claim that they suffered similar injuries as a result of the defendants' action, the case is called

A)a collective case
B)a class action case
C)a plaintiff collective case
D)a group claim

Question 54

Forster, Lee, and Horowitz (2003) found that mock jurors who received instructions at the beginning rather than after the trial

A)reported greater satisfaction with their trial experiences.
B)reported less satisfaction with their trial experiences.
C)recalled and used more of the evidence.
D)recalled and used less of the evidence.

Question 55

The story model refers to

A)how jurors construct a story regarding the case in question.
B)the stories jurors provide during voir dire.
C)how prior record evidence contributes to a juror's story of the events in dispute.
D)a juror's defensive attribution.

Question 56

According to Pennington and Hastie, which of the following would be most likely to yield guilty verdicts from jurors?

A)prosecution evidence presented in story order and defense evidence presented in witness order
B)prosecution evidence presented in witness order and defense evidence presented in story order
C)prosecution evidence presented in story order and defense evidence presented in story order
D)prosecution evidence presented in witness order and defense evidence presented in witness order

Question 57

Jurors who receive pretrial instruction

A)have been able to focus more during the trial.
B)have been able to follow evidence better over the course of trial.
C)neither A or B
D)both A and B

Question 58

Goodman-Delahunty, Greene and Hsio (1998) found that jurors in favor of the death penalty versus those opposed were more likely to infer that a presented defendant

A)intended to murder the victim.
B)displayed actions that suggested premeditation.
C)intended to murder again.
D)both A and B

Question 59

When researchers did a field experiment to investigate how discussing the evidence in the midst of the trial would affect participants' views, they found that

A)the majority of judges supported the procedure.
B)only about half of the attorneys and litigants supported the procedure.
C)the majority of jurors who had these discussions were positive about the procedure.
D)all of the above

Question 60

A person who agrees with the statement, "Any suspect who runs from the police probably committed a crime," would best be described as

A)having an internal locus of control.
B)possessing a pro-prosecution bias.
C)being low in authoritarianism.
D)possessing a pro-defense bias.

Question 61

Generally speaking, jurors will ignore inadmissible evidence when told by the judge to disregard that evidence.

Question 62

Both juries and judges need to give a reason for their verdicts.

Question 63

Judges decide what expert evidence is admitted into court so jurors never have to worry about being able to distinguish between reliable scientific evidence and unreliable scientific evidence.

Question 64

Juries tend to give larger awards when a defendant is wealthy.This inflation of awards appears to be more related to the status of the defendant (typically a corporation) than to the wealth of the defendant.

Question 65

Mock jury research has shown that verdicts can be influenced by a wide range of extralegal factors.

Question 66

According to information provided in Chapter 13, the public is very suspicious of civil plaintiffs.

Question 67

The severity of an injury or accident is to be considered when determining liability.

Question 68

Research suggests that jury deliberations may be able to lessen the impact of inadmissible evidence.

Question 69

If jurors request it, judges usually will provide them with help understanding the jury instructions.

Question 70

In 1994, Congress passed a law making evidence of other sex offenses admissible to show a defendant's propensity to commit the charged sex offense.

Question 71

According to Chapter 13, research evaluating the practice of jurors asking questions of witnesses found the practice to be too distracting, and less helpful than initially suggested.