Abstract
Objectives: This study examined how defendants’ immigrant status and ethnicity interact with evidence strength and mock jurors’ cognitive processing traits to influence decisions in a capital trial. Methods: A sample of jury-eligible participants acted as mock jurors and read a trial summary in which defendant immigrant status, defendant ethnicity, and evidence strength were experimentally manipulated. They then weighed aggravators relative to mitigators, recommended a sentence, and completed measures of rational and experiential processing. Logistic regression was used to test predicted interactions. Results: Mock jurors weighed aggravators over mitigators when the defendant was a Latino citizen and when the defendant was an undocumented immigrant. There were no interactions on sentencing decisions. Evidence strength and experiential processing were positively related to rendering a death sentence. Conclusions: A defendant’s immigrant status and ethnicity might indirectly lead to punitive decisions in capital cases because they influence how jurors weigh aggravators and mitigators.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 423-432 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Criminology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cognitive processing
- Death penalty
- Ethnicity
- Immigrant status
- Juror decision-making
- Prejudice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Law