Effects of Verbal Framing of Video and Attitudes Toward Police on Mock Jurors' Judgements of Body‐Worn Camera Video

Abstract

This study examined the effects of prosecution and defense opening statements describing video evidence on mock jurors' perceptions and interpretations of that evidence and ultimate judgments. Materials were based on an actual case in which a police officer was tried for murder after fatally shooting an unarmed driver at a traffic stop. The incident was recorded on the officer's body‐worn camera. Participants exposed to the prosecution's verbal framing of the video judged the officer to be significantly more responsible for the driver's death than those not so exposed. Partisan verbal framing also significantly affected what participants reported having seen, in some instances making them more likely to agree with factual statements that were unambiguously false. The effect of verbal framing on participants' responsibility judgments was mediated by its effect on their inferential judgments and emotional responses. Attitudes toward police also significantly affected responsibility judgments, inferential judgments, and emotional responses.