Lecture 3 Mediums

1
Part 2 Psychological Applications to Legal
Investigative Contexts
Legal Psychology
Ciarán OKeeffe Room GLA014 Office Hours Monday
2-3,Tuesday 11-12 Telephone ext. 3639 E-mail
okeeffc_at_hope.ac.uk
2
Lecture Aims

• After this lecture you should have a broad
  understanding of various aspects of legal
  psychology
• Expert Testimony
• Juror Bias
• Interviewing for evidence

3
People of the State of New York vsCharles
WilsonMurder in the First Degree
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Expert Testimony

• Applicable Knowledge
• Scientific Evidence
• Able to express opinion rather than simply report
  facts
• But supported by evidence only within domain of
  their expertise
• Establish Credentials
• Daubert Case
• Anti-morning sickness drug
• Rules designed to exclude junk science were
  formulated
• Decision tried to formulate what should be
  regarded as proper scientific methodology
• Assessing expert witness
• Peer review
• Hypotheses refutable

5
Juries

• Layperson Jury
• Consists only of laypersons
• 12 people variable (Scotland 15 people)
• Escabinato Jury
• Mixture of laypersons and legal experts
• System used in Germany
• Bias
• Pre-trial publicity
• Employment, attractiveness age of defendant
• Seriousness of crime
• Number of witnesses

6
Interviewing

• The body of a 57 year old lady, Ivy WILSON, is
  discovered in woodland near her home. Ernest, her
  63 year old husband, an ex RAF pilot, is
  distraught. He has been contacted in Toronto
  Canada, where he was visiting their 34 year old
  daughter, husband and two grandchildren.
  Enquiries uncover that the WILSONs were having a
  conservatory fitted to their country cottage.

7
Interviewing Maximisation vs Minimisation
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Lecture Aims

• After this lecture you should have a broad
  understanding of various aspects of legal
  psychology
• Expert Testimony
• Juror Bias
• Interviewing for evidence