Insanity Defense: Ethnicity of Defendants and Mock Jurors

Abstract

Prior research, in which only white subjects were used and socioeconomic status (SES) of the defendant was not controlled, has indicated that ethnicity of defendants influences the decisions of mock jurors in homicide trials in which insanity is an issue. Controlling for SES, the present study used black and white mock jurors who rendered verdicts about black or white defendants. No significant effect was found for ethnicity of either defendant or respondent.