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Abstract: 

This is the third article in an ongoing series based on Dr. Koski’s article “Jury Decisionmaking in Rape Trials: A Review and Empirical Assessment,” which appears in its entirety in 38 (1) Criminal Law Bulletin 21 (Jan./Feb. 2002), and is reprinted in SLR with the kind permission of the author and publisher. In the first two installments, which appeared in previous issues of SLR, Dr. Koski discussed some of the pitfalls and shortcomings that have developed in the process of determining justice by means of trial by jury, most especially as present in consent-defense rape cases, and reviewed the literature exploring the psychology of jurors in the decisionmaking process, the factors affecting juror attitudes, and the role of juror attitudes in reaching verdicts. In this article, Dr. Koski, explores in greater depth the effects, presumed and demonstrated, of juror attitudes as elements in the decisionmaking process, and begins an examination of perhaps the most influential of juror attitudes—the jurors’ attitude toward the victim and the extent to which they may hold the victim responsible for the crime.

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Affiliations:  1: Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, Distinguished Research Fellow.