Questioning Child Witnesses: New ComCon Online Jury Research Update Published

Nov. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- The third November 2010 Issue of ComCon’s free Online Jury Research Update (OJRU) is now published and answers the question of the effect on jury verdicts of defense attorneys asking complex questions of child witnesses.

Complex questions use language beyond the child's developmental skills, contain legal terminology, and/or use complex sentence forms such as double negatives and tag questions. These complex questions make it harder for children to understand what is being asked, and lower the accuracy of children's responses

This just published Issue of ComCon’s free Online Jury Research Update (OJRU) summarizes research that investigates the effect of complex questions by the defense and prosecution on jurors' verdicts in 46 felony child abuse cases in Los Angeles, California tried between 1997 and 2001. Half of the cases resulted in a conviction, and half in an acquittal. Extensive linguistic analyses of trial transcripts were conducted, and then correlated with the juries' verdicts.    

One key finding:  Defense lawyers who used more complex questioning of child witnesses were over two times more likely to receive a guilty verdict for their client than those who used less complex questions.  Additional findings are discussed in the Update.

The OJRU is a free publication of ComCon Kathy Kellermann Communication Consulting hosted on ComCon’s website at http://www.kkcomcon.com/CCOnlineJuryResearchUpdateByDate.htm.    

ComCon, a trial and jury consulting firm in Los Angeles, publishes the free OJRU four times each month to provide practical answers to questions about trying cases to juries based on social science research.

Issues of the OJRU in the last few months answer such questions as:

       * Does it help or hurt when racial differences are a salient issue at trial?   
       * Do jurors expect scientific evidence in criminal cases?
       * Do jurors believe that non-native English speakers are as truthful as native English speakers?
       * To what extent do jurors discuss jury instructions in deliberations?
       * How well do jurors understand jury instructions on reasonable doubt?
       * Does refutation of peripheral details hurt a witness’s credibility?
       * Do jurors distinguish circumstantial and direct evidence?
       * How does a juror’s social class influence understanding of evidence?

OJRU Issues in the four years since its inception answer questions about JURORS (voir dire, juror characteristics, race, gender), JURIES (decision-making, judicial instructions), PERSUASION (strategies, graphics, language, evidence), PEOPLE (witnesses, experts, judges, attorneys, plaintiffs, defendants), CIVIL CASE ISSUES (settlement, liability, damages), CRIMINAL CASE ISSUES (due process rights, defenses, etc.) and SPECIFIC TYPES OF CASES (employment, sexual assault, death penalty, personal injury, malpractice, etc.).

ComCon also posts announcements on facebook or twitter of new Jury Research Updates, Visual Resources, Slide Shows, Litigator Links, Trial Books, Persuasion Tips and Litigation Articles added to free “Kollectionns” on ComCon’s website (www.kkcomcon.com).

Join ComCon on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ComCon and twitter at http://www.twitter.com/KKComCon  for news, links, tips, free resources, and information about communication and persuasion for making cases compelling in all phases of litigation, from motions to hearings to depositions to settlement to trial and appeal.

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About ComCon:

Litigation, trial and jury consultant firm specializing in persuasion and making cases compelling for motions, hearings, depositions, mediations, arbitrations, trials and appeals in civil and criminal cases, federal and state courts, and national and local venues.

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