The impact of note-taking and justice-vengeance motives on juror decision-making in a criminal murder trial

Abstract

This study examined the effects of note-taking and justice-vengeance motives on juror decision making in a criminal trial. The study predicted that (1) jurors who took notes would render more appropriate decisions and recall more evidentiary content, (2) jurors high in vengeance would sentence the defendant more harshly and recall less probative information, and (3) note-taking would interact with justice and vengeance motives and impact upon sentencing and the recall of information. The sample of 149 jury eligible participants recruited from the Central Queensland community were assigned to one of two conditions (note-taking or non note-taking). All participants viewed the same murder trial and subsequently, rendered a verdict and sentencing decision, as well as recalled the trial facts. Lastly, they completed the Justice-Vengeance scale (Ho, ForsterLee, ForsterLee, & Crofts, 2002). Results of the study indicated that (1) jurors who took notes recalled more probative information than their non note-taking counterparts, (2) jurors high in vengeance sentenced the defendant more harshly and recalled fewer case-related facts, and (3) note-taking offset the vengeance motive for punishment, suggesting that note-taking would be a useful memory aid for vengeance-oriented jurors. The implications of these findings are discussed, as well as recommendations for future research in the field of juror decision-making