PSYC 372: Exam 2

Serial Killer Characteristics

- white males late 20s-30s

-history of abuse

-avg. intelligence

-substance use before killing

- psychopathy

FBI Typology

Organized & Disorganized Killers

- useful for crime scene behavior analysis

Organized Killers

socially skille, avg. intelligence, carefully select ( stalk, prey, etc.)

Disorganized Killers

below average intelligence, not socially proficient, anxious during crime, weapons left at crime scene, sex with victim after death, don't follow crime on news

Holmes and Holmes typology

visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, power-oriented

- best in understanding motives/psych factors

Holmes & Holmes Case Ex.) Jeffrey Dahmer

- Hedonistic: derived sexual gratification from the killings and post-mortem activities.

- Power/Control: displayed an intense need to dominate, control, an even possess victims permenantly

Geographic Profiling

An investigative technique that uses crime scene locations to predict the most likely area where an offender resides

Implicit Racial Bias

attitudes about race that people have without awareness or conscious intent

Correll et al. Study: Racial Bias

"shoot if you see a man holding a gun and withold fire if you see a man holing a harmless object"

- Findings: Shooter Bias; shot unarmed black people the most

Injunctive Relief

a court order to refrain from performing a particular act

Melendres v. Arpaio (2007)

Judge ordered Arpaio and MCSO to stop detaining Latinos based on immigration suspicions

Noem v. Perdomo (2025)

Supreme Court ruled that agents can justify stops by using race, appearance, speaking spanish

Psychopathy & Criminal Behavior

strongly linked to violent crimes

Machiavellianism And Criminal Behavior

commonly associate w/ white collar crimes

Narcissism And Criminal Behavior

- Grandiose: violence comes from threats to status domination

- Vulnerable: violence is more tied to shame, rejection... rage can errupt after percieve sights

Wrongful Convictions

about 70% of DNA exonerations involve mistaken eyewitness ID

Manson Criteria

1. Opportunity to view the perpetrator

2. Level of attention

3. Accuracy of the previous descriptions

4. Degree of certainty

5. Amount of time between witnessing and making the identification

cross-racial identification

better at recognizing faces from our own race

weapon focus effect

presence of a weapon draws attention and impairs memory for other details

Misleading Info; Loftus Study

Findings: changing a single word can disort memory

unconscious transference

when an eyewitness misidentifies a familair BUT innocent person

Estimator Variables

factors outside legal system control

System Variables

Variables that can be manipulated to increase (or decrease) eyewitness accuracy

Bias Reducing Methods for Eyewitness ID

Double-blind lineups, proper instructions, sequential presentation, recording confidence at the time.

Cognitive Interview

use of various cues and strategies to improve the memory of eyewitnesses

Ronald Cotton Case

demonstrates the fallibility of eyewitness testimonies...

- Jennifer Thompson confidently identified Cotton, but DNA later proved he was innocent

Compentency

persons legal capacity to meaningfully an knowingly participate in a legal proceeding

Compentency Case Study: Jared Lee Loughner

- Mass shooting in AZ, killed 6, injured 14

- After Arrest: diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and ruled IST

Competency to Stand Trial (CST)

Defendant's ability to understand trial proceedings.

Dusky Standard

- focus is on defendants psych. state at time of trial

- requires rational & factual understanding of charges

- requires ability to consult and cooperate w/ counsel

Godinez v. Moran (1993)

The competency standard for pleading guilty or waiving the right to counsel is the same as the competency standard for standing trial.

Colin Ferguson (1993)

Defended himself despite clear delusions

- led to Indiana v. Edwards

Indiana v. Edwards

clarified CST doesn't automtically mean pro se compentency ... courts can require a higher bar for self-rep.

Jackson v. Indiana (1972)

Defendants cannot be held for "more than a reasonable period of time" to determine if competence can be reached in the foreseeable future.

Sell v. United States (2003)

right to refuse treatment.

- forcible medication of defendant allowed if necessary

Juveniles Competency to Waive Miranda Rights

Often lack full understanding; courts consider age and development

Gallegos v. Colorado (1962)

held that confessions obtained from juveniles during police interrogations conducted w/o trusted adult/legal counsel

J.D.B. v. North Carolina (2011)

held that a reasonable childs perspective, not a reasonable adult

Competency to Be Executed

Must understand reason for and reality of execution.

- Ford v. Wainwright (1986) -Panetti v. Quarterman (2007) are key cases.

Forensic Assessment Instruments for Competency

CAI, MacArthur Tools, CST

Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)

Structured, one-hour interview that assesses 13 functions relevant to competency, scored from 1 (total incapacity) to 5 (no incapacity)

Limitations: required trained evaluators (still subjective)

MacArthur Tools

standardized research-based, decision-making, understanding, reasoning

Limitations: time-consuming, cultural race bias

Competency Screening Test (CST)

quick, inexpensive, helps flag IST

Limitations: high false-positive rate

Right to a Jury

6th Amend: right to trial by impartial juries for criminal cases

7th Amend: right to trial by impartial juries for most civil cases

Steps in Assembling A Jury

1. Jury Roll 2. Jury Pool 3. Venire 4. Jury

Jury Roll

gathered from source lists to create a master list of potential jurors

Jury Pool

Random selection from jury roll, representing everyone summoned for jury duty

Venire (Jury Panel)

groupe summoned to court for a specific case, drawn from jury pool

Jury

the group that remains after voir dire

Taylor v. Louisiana (1975)

jury rolls must be drawn from Fir cross-section of the community. Women cannot be excluded

13th-15th Amendment

guaranteed civil rights & equal protection, including jury roll

Strauder v. West Virginia (1880)

Exclusion of individuals from juries solely because of their race is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

voir dire

Jury selection process of questioning prospective jurors, to ascertain their qualifications and determine any basis for challenge.

Challenges for Cause

unlimited, judge determines if person shall be disscussed

Peremptory Challenges

the right to excuse a juror for virtually any reason.. attorneys decide...

Batson v. Kentucky (1986)

prosecutors used peremptory challenges to exclude every black juror...

J.E.B. v. Alabama (1994)

Making peremptory challenges based solely on a prospective juror's sex is unconstitutional

Locus of Control

Internal: ypu determine your fate (more likely to to blame victim)

external: your life happens to you

Belief in a Just World (BJW)

the belief that individuals get what they deserve in life, an orientation that leads people to blame victims

Trait Authoritarianism

obedience to authority

High Author: more likely to convict & hand down harsh punishments

Juror Bias Scale

statements used to measure extent to which people are predisposed to favor criminals v. defense

Revised Legal Questionaire (RLAQ)

1. Authoritarianism

2. Anti-Authoritarianism

3. Equalitarianism

similarity-leniency hypothesis

similarity produce leniency only when evidence is inconclusive and similar jurors outnumber dissimilar

Proceedings in A Criminal Trial

1. opening statements

2. presentation of evience

3. cross-exam

4. closing arguments

5. jury

6. deliberation & verdict