An analysis of selective compliance with judicial instructions as a function of victim character

The present study represents an effort to determine whether a crime victim's character affects jurors' determinations of a defendant's guilt, and whether it has a differential impact on juror compliance with judicial instruction to disregard inadmissible, damaging testimony.;84 jury-eligible residents of 12 California counties participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned in equal numbers to 6 conditions based on manipulated testimony in a fictional murder trial summary.;The 11-section trial summary was identical across participants with the exception of Sections 5 and 6. Section 5 either omitted or contained damaging, inadmissible evidence coupled with judicial instructions to disregard it. Section 6 either omitted or contained testimony pertaining to the homicide victim's character, which was either favorable or unfavorable, thus creating a 2x3 design.;Primary measures included ratings of the degree to which participants believed the defendant to be guilty of the crime at the end of each section of testimony, a Verdict Choice of Guilty or Not Guilty, and ratings of the degree to which participants felt confident in their respective Verdict Choices.;Analyses revealed a significant relationship between victim character and Verdict Choice (χ2 = 9.33, p .05), suggesting that jurors can and do comply with judicial instructions to disregard inadmissible evidence and that a homicide victim's character is a better predictor of verdict than is the presence of damaging inadmissible testimony. The relationship between participants' belief in the defendant's guilt and their verdict choices is addressed as well.