Date of Award
Spring 5-24-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Margaret Bull Kovera
Second Reader
Jacqueline Katzman
Third Advisor
Steven Penrod
Abstract
Abstract
The current study is designed to determine whether two case factors affect criminal defense attorneys’ plea decision-making: witness coercion and witness familiarity with the defendant. A sample of 133 criminal defense attorneys (123 after attention checks) reviewed a mock case vignette and a witness interview which varies on two dimensions: coerciveness (coercive, non-coercive) and witness relationship to the defendant (friend, stranger). Attorneys reported their impressions of the case and indicated their recommended minimum and maximum length of negotiated plea agreements, how likely their client was to be convicted at trial, how coercive they thought the mock interview was, and how coercive they believed a jury would think the mock interview was. A two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) found no significance between familiarity and recommended length of negotiated plea agreements, coercion and recommended length of negotiated plea agreements or any interaction effects between familiarity, coercion and recommended length of negotiated plea agreements. Additionally, we found no significance between familiarity, coercion and likelihood of conviction at trial. We did find criminal defense attorneys viewed coercive interviews as more coercive than non-coercive interviews. There was also a significant spreading interaction effect between coercion and familiarity where defense attorneys viewed a coercive friend interview more coercive than a non-coercive friend interview. Finally we found that criminal defense attorneys predicted jurors would find coercive interviews more coercive than non-coercive interviews.
Recommended Citation
Carty, Jason, "Witnessing Eyewitness Coercion and Familiarity Affects Defense Attorneys’ Evaluations of Trial Prospects" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/313