Collaborative Research on the Influence of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Decisionmaking

尽管学术界和公共政策对审前公示问题有相当大的兴趣，但目前对其性质和对陪审团决策的影响的了解有限。近年来，人们使用了各种方法来研究媒体的影响，但在产生一些知识的同时，这些努力也有其弱点。对真实陪审员和真实案件的研究通常使用事后调查方法，不能充分揭示审前公示和陪审团决策之间的联系。模拟陪审团研究表明，人们可以并将基于审前宣传形成对被告的印象，但这些研究并未证明任何特定的偏见对陪审团决策的影响，而且，总的来说，这些努力受到外部有效性问题的影响。彭罗德博士和林茨博士试图扩大我们对审前公示影响的了解，同时超越一些常见的陷阱。计划进行三个实验。第一个实验评估了审前公示在四个实际审判中的影响，这些审判涉及不同程度的公示。使用一种名为“传真方法”的新的陪审团模拟程序，这些正在进行的审判的录像带将被呈现给从社区和学生群体中挑选出来的“影子”陪审团。第二个实验是一项实验室研究，它利用真实的审判录像带，但系统地操纵向受试者展示的审前宣传材料。第三项研究也使用了实际的审判材料，但在这种情况下，这样做是为了对专业人员(法官、律师)进行实验性检查，并对审前公示进行评估。这三个实验加在一起构成了一个最具想象力的一揽子计划。通过在数据收集和设计中整合实验室和现场方法，这项研究最大化了实验控制和实验现实主义。仅从这一优势来看，它就构成了一项重要的进步。此外，同样重要的是，传真战略有可能被用于与法律决策有关的其他领域。因此，这项研究承诺在方法论上对该领域做出贡献，而不是它应该有助于我们对审前公示的理解。

Despite considerable academic and public policy interest in the issue of pretrial publicity, currently there is only limited knowledge of its nature and effects on jury decisionmaking. Over recent years a variety of methods have been used to examine media effects, but, while producing some knowledge, these efforts have had their weaknesses. Studies of real jurors and real cases have typically used post hoc survey methods which cannot fully unravel the linkages between pretrial publicity and jury decisionmaking. Simulated jury studies have shown that people can and will form impressions of defendants based on pretrial publicity, but these studies do not demonstrate the impact of any particular sets of biases on jury decisionmaking, and, by and large, these efforts suffer from problems of external validity. Drs. Penrod and Linz seek to expand our knowledge of the influence of pretrial publicity while transcending some of the common pitfalls. Three experiments are planned. The first experiment assesses the impact of pre-trial publicity in four actual trials involving varying degrees of publicity. Using a new jury simulation procedure called the "facsimile method," videotapes of these ongoing trials will be presented to "shadow" juries selected from community and student populations. The second experiment is a laboratory study that makes use of the real trial videotapes but systematically manipulates the pretrial publicity material that is shown to subjects. The third study also uses the actual trial material but in this instance does so in order to examine experimentally professional (judge, lawyer) and lay evaluations of pretrial publicity. The three experiments combined constitute a most imaginative package. By integrating laboratory and field approaches in data collection and design, the research maximizes both experimental control and experimental realism. From that vantage alone, it constitutes an important advance. In addition, and equally as important, the facsimile strategy has the potential of being used in other domains relating to legal decisionmaking. Therefore, this research promises a methodological contribution to the field above and beyond what it should contribute to our understanding of pretrial publicity.