What is it about?
Jurors tend to have difficulty understanding forensic science testimony and often fail to notice improper testimony. Even so, jurors tend to rely heavily on forensic testimony in making case decisions. We developed and tested a Forensic Science Informational (FSI) video aimed at helping jurors evaluate forensic expert testimony. We found that the FSI video helped mock jurors distinguish between low-quality and high-quality forensic expert testimony by adjusting their evaluations of both the forensic expert and the forensic testimony.
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Why is it important?
Our findings suggest that informational videos may be a useful tool for decreasing jurors’ misinterpretations of forensic evidence in criminal trials. Such videos can help jurors detect suboptimal forensic expert testimony without causing jurors’ to distrust the forensic evidence in general.
Perspectives
Working on this project with an experienced interdisciplinary team of forensic scientists, legal psychologists, and attorney has been an honor. I have learned so much from their collective knowledge and expertise. I hope this article can serve as a starting point to implementing interventions to help jurors better understand the testimony they hear in courts to better fulfill their roles as objective factfinders.
Devon LaBat
Florida International University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Improving juror assessments of forensic testimony and its effects on decision-making and evidence evaluation., Law and Human Behavior, August 2023, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/lhb0000539.
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