Pre-trial print publicity in Australian print media : eliciting bias effects on juror decision making

Guided by the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing, this study investigated the impact of Pre-trial Publicity (PTP) (informational/emotional), and Crime Type (intentional/unintentional) as a measure of complexity on mock juror decision-making. Ninety-nine (35 male, 64 female) jury eligible (aged 18-65) members from within the Queensland population participated in this study. Participants read two newspaper articles that contained either informational publicity (such as prior convuctions), or emotional publicity (emotive details about the victim), followed by a trial transcript summary before rendering verdict and sentencing decisions. Overall the results of this study suggest that mock jurors are influenced in their information processing by extra-legal factors. The principal findings demonstrate that PTP seves as an extra-legal factor when jurors render their judgements. Participants exposed to emotional PTP render harsher sentencing decisions than participants exposed to informational publicity. Further, complexity, defined in this study by Crime Type, revealed that jurors tend to search for additional informationin the form of a heuristic cue PTP. Thus, the study found that mock jurors confronted with complex trial evidence and exposed to emotional PTP delivered harsher sentencing decisions

Women Doing Research: 2005 Women in Research Conference Proceedings

Papers on a variety of topics presented at the WiR Conference, "Women doing Research", at Gladstone CQU Campus, 24-25 November, 200

"Discovery": Discovering research, discovering teaching & learning, discovering self: 2003 Women in Research Conference, Central Queensland University, 13-14 November 2003, Rockhampton, Qld.

This volume is a record of the papers presented at the WiR ‘Discovery’ Conference, 13th -14th Nov, 2003, held at the Rockhampton campus of Central Queensland University. Each of the papers contained in this volume have been double blind peer reviewed for acceptability according to the following broad criteria: • The volume contains a variety of papers related to the conference theme of Discovery – Research, Teaching & Learning and Self. • These papers discuss the theme from a variety of perspectives and raise significant issues for women and others involved in teaching and learning, research and our own journeys of discovery. The success of the WiR international and national ‘Discovery’ Conference 2003, provided an opportunity for interaction between delegates and the establishment of a wider global network in which to forge ahead.</p