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Factors That Predict Outcomes in Sexual Assault Trials

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Closing the Justice Gap for Adult and Child Sexual Assault

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Abstract

Jury research shows that verdicts in criminal trials vary according to the strength of the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defence. But because ‘hard evidence’ is usually lacking in sexual assault trials, it can be expected that jurors will rely on extra-legal factors (myths, biases and misconceptions) in deciding a case with ambiguous evidence such as a word-against-word case.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Quadara, Fileborn, and Parkinson (2013) note that the ‘specificity of the legal context must be kept in mind in interpreting the implications’ of evidence of the use of force for [non-American] jurisdictions since in many US states the use of force ‘is an explicit component of the definition of rape and also shapes the notion of consent’, compared to common law countries, such as Australia, and England and Wales.

  2. 2.

    Similar fact evidence is also known as propensity, tendency or coincidence evidence and usually involves prior behaviours that are attributed to the defendant which are similar to the charges in the trial, such as prior charges/convictions, allegations from other witnesses about similar criminal conduct or other evidence of the defendant’s association with similar events.

  3. 3.

    Recent complaint evidence is usually given by a witness to whom the complainant first disclosed her allegation of sexual assault, such as a non-offending parent, counsellor, sibling, close friend, teacher or work colleague.

  4. 4.

    This high threshold might be attributable to jurors’ expectations of forensic evidence as a result of the so-called ‘CSI-effect’, although the existence of such an effect has been debated in the literature, with evidence for and against (Dioso-Villa, 2015; Holmgren & Fordham, 2011; Mancini, 2013; Schweitzer & Saks, 2007; Shelton, 2008).

  5. 5.

    In different jurisdictions, different rules of evidence govern the admissibility of evidence of a defendant’s prior criminal conduct.

  6. 6.

    This study involved a demographically diverse group of 210 mock jurors who were randomly assigned to 18 mock sexual assault trials, which used different modes of victim testimony (live evidence in court, evidence via CCTV or pre-recorded video) and simulated actual trial conditions. The jurors completed pre-deliberation and post-deliberation questionnaires (Taylor & Joudo, 2005: 22–25, 78–92).

  7. 7.

    Of the 18 juries who deliberated, 16 could not reach a unanimous verdict within the time allowed while two returned unanimous not guilty verdicts (Taylor & Joudo, 2005: 46).

  8. 8.

    Cited in R v Seaboyer (1991) 83 DLR (4th) 193, 218 (L’Heureux-Dube J).

  9. 9.

    R v Seaboyer (1991) 83 DLR (4th) 193, 650 (L’Heureux-Dube J); see also Spigelman CJ in JJB v R (2006) 161 A Crim R 187.

  10. 10.

    JJB v R (2006) 161 A Crim R 187, [3] (Spigelman CJ).

  11. 11.

    Similarly, in another mock jury study, eyewitness testimony was found to increase credibility judgements of the child complainant but with no corresponding increase in guilty verdicts (Bottoms & Goodman, 1994).

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  1. Honorary Professor and former Professor of Law and Criminology Faculty of Law , University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Anne Cossins

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Cossins, A. (2020). Factors That Predict Outcomes in Sexual Assault Trials. In: Closing the Justice Gap for Adult and Child Sexual Assault. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-32051-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-32051-3_3

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