Jury Interactions: The Effects of Gender of the Defence Attorney and Crime Domain on Juror Decision-Making

Abstract

This thesis examines the existence of an interaction between the gender of the defence attorney and the crime domain of the accused person represented by the defence attorney when predicting juror verdict, juror certainty in his/her verdict and juror perceptions of the credibility of the defence attorney. More broadly, this study explores a possible gender-domain congruency effect on juror decision-making and whether jurors apply gender schemas when processing information presented by male versus female attorneys in particular crime domains. Specifically, this investigation hypothesizes that in cases in which female defence attorneys represent crimes perceived to be in an area of women’s expertise, jurors resort to gender stereotypes, perceiving them as not only more credible than male defence attorneys but also more likely to find the accused person not guilty as well as have a greater degree of certainty in this verdict. To test this theory, an Ottawa community sample of 80 jury-eligible participants read one of four online case vignettes in which the crime domain and the gender of the defence attorney varied. Findings demonstrate a significant main effect of gender whereby mock jurors are more likely to impose a guilty verdict with a male versus a female defence attorney. Further, the crime domain of the accused person whom the defence attorney represents emerged as a significant main effect predicting the perceived credibility of the defence attorney. That is, regardless of gender, the defence attorney was perceived as more credible when representing the defendant accused of aggravated assault than of sexual assault. However, a significant interaction effect of the gender of the defence attorney and crime domain was not found. The implications of these findings as they relate to the impact of extralegal factors on juror decision-making are discussed, particularly in light of the continuing existence of gender stereotypes and their ramifications for modern Canadian juries.