When a Battered Victim Kills Their Abuser: The Impact of Child and Expert Testimony on Mock Jurors’ Decision-Making

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of child and expert witness testimony on mock jurors’ decision-making and perceptions of a case in which a female defendant claimed self-defense as the reason for killing her husband during a domestic dispute. A 3 (expert witness: Battered Woman Syndrome [BWS] vs. Social Agency [SA] vs. No Expert) × 3 (child witness: Age 5 vs. Age 8 vs. no child) between-subject design was used to examine the effects of two different forms of expert testimony and their interaction with the presence of a child witness. Jury-eligible participants (N = 370) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and a Psychology Undergraduate Student Pool. The mock jurors who were exposed to the BWS expert perceived the defendant as more guilty when an 8-year-old testified compared to when no child testified at all. Furthermore, when the jurors were exposed to the BWS expert, they imposed a harsher sentence on the defendant when an 8-year-old child testified compared to a 5-year-old child or no child testifying. Although the jurors perceived the defendant in the BWS condition as more fearful compared to no expert and the SA condition, this knowledge did not seem to translate into a lighter verdict or sentencing decision. This study aims to provide guidelines for future researchers and legal professionals considering the issue of expert testimony and child witnesses in intimate partner homicides.

Keywords

intimate partner homicide jurors’ perception battered woman syndrome expert testimony child witness

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Black

M. C.

Basile

K. C.

Breiding

M. J.

Smith

S. G.

Walters

M. L.

Merrick

M. T.

Chen

Stevens

M. R.

(2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf

Block

C. R.

Christakos

(2017). Intimate partner homicide in Chicago over 29 years. In Natarajan

(Ed.), Domestic violence (pp. 529–556). Routledge.

Bornstein

B. H.

(2004). The impact of different types of expert scientific testimony on mock jurors’ liability verdicts. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10(4), 429–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316030001629292

Bornstein

B. H.

Golding

J. M.

Neuschatz

Kimbrough

Reed

Magyarics

Luecht

(2017). Mock juror sampling issues in jury simulation research: A meta-analysis. Law and Human Behavior, 41(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000223

Bottoms

Goodman

(1994). Perceptions of children’s credibility in sexual assault cases. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(8), 702–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1994.tb00608.x

Brigham

(1998). Adults’ evaluations of characteristics of children’s memory. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(1), 15–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0193-3973(99)80026-4

Buhrmester

Kwang

Gosling

S. D.

(2016). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality data? In Kazdin

A. E.

(Ed.), Methodological issues and strategies in clinical research (4th ed., pp. 133–139). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14805-009

Campbell

J. C.

Glass

Sharps

P. W.

Laughon

Bloom

(2007). Intimate partner homicide: Review and implications of research and policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 8(3), 246–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838007303505

Connolly

D. A.

Price

H. L.

Gordon

H. M.

(2010). Judicial decision making in timely and delayed prosecutions of child sexual abuse in Canada: A study of honesty and cognitive ability in assessments of credibility. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16(2), 177–199. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019050

10.

Devine

D. J.

Caughlin

D. E.

(2014). Do they matter? A meta-analytic investigation of individual characteristics and guilt judgments. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000006

11.

Dutton

M. A.

(1993). Understanding women’s response to domestic violence: A redefinition of battered woman syndrome. Hofstar Law Review, 9, 1191–1242.

12.

Dutton

M. A.

(2009). Update of the “battered woman syndrome” critique. VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence/Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/materials/files/2016-09/AR_BWSCritique.pdf

13.

Eriksson

Mazerolle

(2013). A general strain theory of intimate partner homicide. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(5), 462–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.07.002

14.

Ewing

C. P.

(1987). Battered women who killed. D.C. Heath and Company.

15.

Federal Rules of Evidence, 34v C.F.R. (2017).

16.

Frye v. U. S., 293 F . 1013 (D.C.. Cir 1923).

17.

Goodman

G. S.

Golding

J. M.

Haith

M. M.

(1984). Jurors’ reactions to child witnesses. Journal of Social Issues, 40(2), 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1984.tb01098.x

18.

Goodman

G. S.

Golding

J. M.

Helgeson

V. S.

Haith

M. M.

Michelli

(1987). When a child takes the stand: Jurors’ perceptions of children’s eyewitness testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 11(1), 27–40.

19.

Gordon

Follmer

(1994). Developmental issues in judging the credibility of children’s testimony. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23(3), 283–294. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2303_6

20.

Gorin

(2004). Understanding what children say: Children’s experiences of domestic violence, parental substance misuse and parental health problems. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

21.

Hamond

N. R.

Fivush

(1991). Memories of Mickey Mouse: Young children recount their trip to Disneyworld. Cognitive Development, 6(4), 433–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2014(91)90048-I

22.

Hanna

(2009). The paradox of progress: Translating Evan Stark’s coercive control into legal doctrine for abused women. Violence Against Women, 15(12), 1458–1476. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209347091

23.

Holcomb

M. J.

Jacquin

K. M.

(2007). Juror perceptions of child eyewitness testimony in a sexual abuse trial. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(2), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1300/J070v16n02_05

24.

Huss

M. T.

Tomkins

A. J.

Garbin

C. P.

Schopp

R. F.

Kilian

(2006). Battered women who kill their abusers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(8), 1063–1080. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260506290206

25.

Ibn-Tamas v. U.S., 407 A.2d 626 (1979).

26.

Johnson

M. P.

(2007). Domestic violence: The intersection of gender and control. In O’ Toole

L. L.

Schiffman

J. R.

Edwards

M. L. K.

(Eds.), Gender violence: Interdisciplinary perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 257–268). New York University Press.

27.

Kern

Libkuman

T. M.

Temple

S. L.

(2007). Perceptions of domestic violence and mock jurors’ sentencing decisions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(12), 1515–1535. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507306476

28.

McCauley

M. R.

Parker

J. F.

(2001). When will a child be believed? The impact of the victim’s age and juror’s gender on children’s credibility and verdict in a sexual-abuse case. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25(4), 523–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00224-1

29.

Mullender

Hague

Imam

U. F.

Kelly

Malos

Regan

(2002). Children’s perspectives on domestic violence. Sage.

30.

Nightingale

N. N.

(1993). Juror reactions to child victim witnesses: Factors affecting trial outcome. Law and Human Behavior, 17(6), 679–694. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044689

31.

Nikonova

Ogloff

J. R. P.

(2005). Mock jurors’ perceptions of child witnesses: The impact of judicial warning. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 37(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087241

32.

Nunez

Kehn

Wright

D. B.

(2011). When children are witnesses: The effects of context, age and gender on adults’ perceptions of cognitive ability and honesty. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(3), 460–468. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1713

33.

NYS Unified Court System. (n.d.). Penal law article 125. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.nycourts.gov/judges/cji/2-PenalLaw/125/art125hp.shtml

34.

Othman

Goddard

Piterman

(2014). Victims’ barriers to discussing domestic violence in clinical consultations: A qualitative enquiry. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(8), 1497–1513. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513507136

35.

Penrod

S. D.

(1990). Predictors of jury decision making in criminal and civil cases: A field experiment. Forensic Reports. 3(3), 261–277.

36.

Plumm

K. M.

Terrance

C. A.

(2009). Battered women who kill: The impact of expert testimony and empathy induction in the courtroom. Violence Against Women, 15(2), 186–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801208329145

37.

Regan

P. C.

Baker

S. J.

(1998). The impact of child witness demeanor on perceived credibility and trial outcome in sexual abuse cases. Journal of Family Violence, 13(2), 187–195. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022845724226

38.

Ross

D. F.

Dunning

Toglia

Ceci

S. J.

(1990). The child in the eyes of the jury: Assessing mock jurors’ perceptions of the child witness. Law and Human Behavior, 14(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055786

39.

Ross

D. F

Jurden

F. H.

Lindsay

R. C. L.

Keeney

J. M.

(2003). Replications and limitations of a two-factor model of child witness credibility. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(2), 418–431. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01903.x

40.

Russell

B. L.

Melillo

L. S.

(2006). Attitudes toward battered women who kill: Defendant typicality and judgments of culpability. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(2), 219–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854805284412

41.

Schneider

E. M.

(1986). Describing and changing: Women’s self-defense work and the problem of expert testimony on battering. Women’s Rights Law Reporter, 9, 195–222.

42.

Schuller

R. A.

(1990). The impact of battered woman syndrome testimony on jury decision Lavallee v. R. considered. Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 10, 105–126.

43.

Schuller

R. A.

(1992). The impact of Battered Woman Syndrome evidence on jury decision processes. Law and Human Behavior, 16(6), 597–620. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01884018

44.

Schuller

R. A.

Cripps

(1998). Expert evidence pertaining to battered women: The impact of gender of expert and timing of testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 22(1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025772604721

45.

Schuller

R. A.

Hastings

P. A.

(1996). Trials of battered women who kill: The impact of alternative forms of expert evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 20(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01499353

46.

Schuller

R. A.

Mckimmie

B. M.

Janz

(2004). The impact of expert testimony in trials of battered women who kill. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1375/pplt.2004.11.1.1

47.

Schuller

R. A.

Rzepa

(2002). Expert testimony pertaining to battered woman syndrome: Its impact on jurors’ decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 26(6), 655–673.

48.

Schuller

R. A.

Smith

V. L.

Olson

J. M.

(1994). Jurors’ decisions in trials of battered women who kill: The role of prior beliefs and expert testimony. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(4), 316–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1994.tb00585.x

49.

Smith

E. L.

(2022). Female murder victims and victim-offender relationship, 2021. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/female-murder-victims-and-victim-offender-relationship-2021

50.

Smith

E. L.

Farole

D. J.

Jr. (2009). Profile of intimate partner violence cases in large urban counties. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pipvcluc.pdf

51.

Spencer

C. M.

Stith

S. M.

(2020). Risk factors for male perpetration and female victimization of intimate partner homicide: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(3), 527–540. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018781

52.

Stark

(2023). Coercive control : How men entrap women in personal life (edition 2) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197639986.001.0001

53.

State v. Griffiths, 610 P.2d 522, 101 Idaho 163 (1980).

54.

State v. Kelly, 478 A. 2d 364 (N.J. 1984).

55.

Taylor

Jasinski

J. L.

(2011). Femicide and the feminist perspective. Homicide Studies, 15(4), 341–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679114245

56.

Truman

J. L.

Morgan

R. E.

(2014). Nonfatal domestic violence—2003–2012. US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf

57.

Ver Steegh

. (2000). The silent victims: Children and domestic violence. William Mitchell Law Review, 26(3), 775–809.

58.

Walker

(2017). The battered woman syndrome (4th ed.). Springer Publishing Company.