UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Rothe, Lauren Frances

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    Evidence and Expectations: A Look into How DNA Impacts Jury Decisions in Criminal Trials
    (2009) Rothe, Lauren Frances; Paternoster, Raymond; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Using DNA evidence in the courtroom is a practice that has increased over the last twenty years (Lieberman et al., 2008). Past research has shown that the mere presence of this scientific evidence in prosecutorial arguments increases the likelihood of a guilty verdict, even if the information has been severely mishandled (Lieberman et al., 2008). This study uses previously collected mock jury data to determine the effects, if any, mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA testimony has on a juror's perceived importance and understanding of the trial proceedings. The original trial this study was based on resulted in a guilty decision. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, "guilty" is considered a reliable outcome. The following also addresses the extent of group influences on the decision making process using juror thoughts regarding the verdict before and after deliberations. The study finds a positive effect between importance/understanding and the propensity to find the defendant guilty. Also, little group effects were found before and after deliberation, revealing consistency in juror thought.