ps354 exam

nolo contendere

standard guilty plea, no contest, defendant accepts punishment by does not admit guilt

alford plea

pleading gulty but publicly maintaining innocence

how are pleas different for juveniles

young offenders may be

-less able to understand plea bargaining process

-less able to consider relevant factors

-more likely than adults to accept plea bargains when innocent of a crime and more influenced by attorney advice

6th amendment

right to impartial juries for criminal cases, public trial without unnecessary delay, right to a lawyer and know the charges against you

7th amendment

impartial juries for most civil cases over 20$ (672 today)

venire

random sample of potential jurors who actually show up to courthouse

what percentage of called jurors do not report to court

20% are absent

voir dire

vetting process to select juror members from venire

challenge for cause

person is unlikely to be an impartial juror because of bias or prejudice

peremptory challenge

can dismiss juror without giving a reason

impaneled

serving on a jury in trial

sequestered jury

isolation from the public to prevent jurors from coming into contact with information that can prejudice them

how do trial consultants help with jury selection?

assist in selection by utilizing research conducted by social scientists

analyze supplemental juror questionnaires

shadow jury

group of people selected during high stakes trials to match the demographics of the actual jury and provide feedback to lawyers about reactions to evidence

similarity-leniency hypothesis

jurors who are similar to the defendant will empathize and identify with them, causing them to be less likely to convict

black sheep effect

jurors think that the defendant has “let down” their ethnic group and treat them more harshly

how are forensic psychologists involved in jury selection?

can give advice on how to select a jury, tell lawyers when to make a challenge; coach and prepare witnesses, develop questioning strategies

burden of proof

prosecutor must provide enough evidence that the defendant broke the law

summation

closing arguments make by each attorney in trial

deliberations

when the jury is required to make a verdict as a group

encoding

gathering information and putting it in a form that can be held in memory

storage

holding the encoded information in the brain over time

retrieval

accessing and pulling out the stored information later in time

recall

remembering events that happened

recognition

choosing an option when trying to remember a detail

Manson criteria

consist of five factors to evaluate the accuracy of eyewitness testtimony

-witness’ opportunity to view perp

-accuracy of description and level of attention

-degree of certainty

-time between witnessing and id

cross race effect

harder for people to recognize the faces of people outside their racial group

What did Johnson and Fredrickson conclude?

contact with other races improves cross race id but also the emotions involved with the contact; when people were induced to be happy, racial bias was almost eliminated

weapon effect

witnesses will focus on weapon, not assailant, therefore impairing assailant id

unconscious transference

a face seen in one context is transferred to another; when the wrong person closely resembles real suspect

retrieval inhibition

people only selectively retrieve some aspects of a memory while inhibiting the other parts, especially if not asked all details

effect of suggestive of leading comments (Loftus)

eyewitness recall is shaped by how questions are worded

scripts and schemas

beliefs about the sequence of actions in a case influence how we remember what we see

cognitive dissonance

committing to a choice means you are motivated to justify the choice and if you hear contrary information, you increase certainty

post ID feedback effect

when biased feedback distorts eyewitness memory

factors of witness confidence

more confident witnesses are highly persuasive but less accurate and confidence tends to increase over time

culprit absent lineup

witness correctly recognized person not in lineup 72% of time in sequential lineup, but only 49% in simultaneous lineup

culprit present lineup

35% of witness identified person correctly with sequential lineup, 50% simultaneous

sequential lineups

view only one person at a time in a lineup

suggestions to improve eyewitness accuracy

prelineup interviews, immediate postlineup confidence statement, avoiding repeated id procedures with same witness and suspect, etc

simultaneous lineup

the classic suspects stand in a line awaiting potential positive id

competency to stand trial

legal term that refers to the defendant’s ability and psychological state at the time of the trial, burden of proof lies on defense

foundational competence

ability to interact and help attorney

decisional competence

ability to understand court proceedings and make informed, independent decsions

what is the Dusky standard?

1960 case where man was schizophrenic but found competent, trial outlined new guidelines to determine competency in court

common characteristics of incompetent defendants

history of mental illness, drug abuse, criminal behavior, psychological problems

difficulties in ability to interact with attorney and understand court proceedings

restoration of competency

education and treatment with antipsychotics, indefinitely held in mental health facility

28% found incompetent to stand trial

what is the average length of stay in institution when deemed incompetent

68 days

characteristics of juveniles incompetent to stand trial

immaturity, poor judgement or decision making, more apt to confess then remain silent, can depend on age

psychological tools used for competency assessment

MMPI-2

Inkblot

TAT

malingering

conscious fabrication or gross exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms, done in order to acheive external goals

pathogenic malingering

people motivated by underlying pathology to lie about mental illness

criminological

people with antisocial or oppositional motivation who fake mental illness to obtain an outcome they do not deserve`

adaptational

person who makes a constructive attempt to succeed in a highly adversarial or competitive situation

insanity legal defintion

committing a crime without full awareness of your actions

Andrea Yates case key details

first trial sentenced to life in prison

second trial found not guilty by reason of insanity

NGRI not guilty by reason of insanity

remain in mental institute until no longer a danger to self or others

M’Naughten case

cognitive testing for insanity

-defendant sane and responsible for crime

-at moment of crime accused was mentally ill

-defendant could not differentiate between right and wrong

Durham case

defendant is not guilty if unlawful act was result of mental illness

John Hinckley Jr.

found NGRI, Jodie Foster Reagan Shooting

What occured after Hinckley was charged?

the 1984 Insanity Defense Reform Act

guilty but mentally ill

defendant is mentally ill, but not severely enough to relieve them of criminal responsibility, burden of proof on the prosecution to prove someone is sane

how to detect malingering

exaggerated and dramatic account of symptoms, unusual carefulness and deliberateness answering questions, mix of inconsistent symptoms with known diagnosis

misdemeanor

lesser crime with incarceration less than a year

petty theft, trespassing

When was the term for BWS coined

Ibn-Tamas case in 1979, Dr. Lenore Walker first to identify term

battered women syndrome

the behavior of women abused by their partner

rape trauma syndrome

how women respond to the trauma of rape

Walker’s three phase cycle of abuse

tension building, acute battering, contrition

characteristics of battered women

traditional sex-role attitudes, tendency to accept responsibility for abuse, increasingly dependent on abuser, isolated

hypervigilance

heightened attentiveness to (abusive) behaviors

learned helplessness

becoming submissive and giving up instead of fighting back

factors to plead self defense in BWS

imminent bodily harm, using reasonable and proportional force, no reasonable avenue of escape

how are those afflicted with BWS treated in legal system

jurors are negatively inclined towards women that kill their partners

harsher sentences in jury trials vs bench trials for a female defendant

validity and usefulness of BWS has been criticized

four major criteria for PTSD

reexperiencing the traumatic event

avoidance of stimuli associated with event

heightened arousal

persistent symptoms lasting more than a month