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Handle with care : jury deliberation and demeanour-based assessments of witness credibility
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Chalmers, James, Leverick, Fiona and Munro, Vanessa (2022) Handle with care : jury deliberation and demeanour-based assessments of witness credibility. The International Journal of Evidence & Proof, 26 (4). pp. 381-406. doi:10.1177/13657127221120955 ISSN 1365-7127.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/13657127221120955
Abstract
It is unclear how effectively jurors perform their task of assessing witness credibility. Drawing on evidence from a mock jury study involving 863 mock jurors deliberating across 64 juries, and building on existing research, this paper explores juries’ reliance on demeanour. While jurors make use of factors which the research literature suggests are often appropriate credibility markers, for example external consistency of accounts, there is cause for concern over the nuance with which jurors apply those assessments in high stakes contexts. The manner in which jurors look to manner of delivery as evidence of credibility is also problematic. The paper makes the case for a more circumspect approach towards jurors’ use of demeanour assessments. At a minimum, this requires that judicial directions no longer advocate their reliability, but remind jurors of the complexities associated with such assessments and the need to treat any conclusions grounded on presentational cues with caution.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics K Law [Moys] > KB General and Comparative Law K Law [Moys] > KL Common Law, General K Law [Moys] > KN Common Law, Private Law |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||||
| SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Jury , Jury instructions , Jurors , Jury ethics , Truthfulness and falsehood, Criminal procedure , Criminal justice, Administration of | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | The International Journal of Evidence & Proof | ||||||
| Publisher: | Vathek Publishing | ||||||
| ISSN: | 1365-7127 | ||||||
| Official Date: | 24 August 2022 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 26 | ||||||
| Number: | 4 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 381-406 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1177/13657127221120955 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 18 October 2022 | ||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 20 October 2022 | ||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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