General pre-trial publicity and jury bias

grantor: University of TorontoThe present study examined the influence of general pre-trial publicity (PTP) on mock jurors. One hundred and forty-seven university undergraduates read either factual, fictional, or neutral general PTP prior to viewing a trial and deliberating on a verdict. Results indicated that there is no differential influence between factual vs. fictional pre-trial publicity. When these two groups were combined, results suggested that general PTP exerted a strong influence to strengthen mock jurors' feelings of the defendants guilt both before deliberations as well as after deliberations. Results also suggested that general PTP influenced mock jurors confidence after deliberating so that jurors exposed to the PTP felt much less confident in their verdict choice than jurors in the control (neutral) condition. There was no effect of general PTP on the actual verdict choice.M.A