The effect of pretrial publicity: The Bernardo case

Freedman, Jonathan; Burke, Tara M.

doi:10.3138/cjcrim.38.3.253

Cited by 12 publications

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“…In any case, it does not appear that highly publicized defendants are treated much differently in terms of ultimate conviction rates than are defendants who receive no publicity at all. This is challenging evidence in support of the proposition that pretrial publicity might not have an influence on trials, a proposition that has been advocated or acknowledged before (e.g., Freedman & Burke, 1996;Pember, 1984;Rollings & Blascovich, 1977;Simon, 1966).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…We have studied only newspaper coverage. Although there is research suggesting that newspaper coverage is the primary medium through which media consumers base their opinions about legal trials (Freedman & Burke, 1996;Nietzel & Dillehay, 1983), researchers should include other media. If an appreciation of real cases and real coverage is desired, certainly the inclusion of television coverage would be a step in the right direction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, although it may be expected that pretrial publicity is generally proprosecution (see Imrich et al, 1995), the operationalizations of publicity have been especially damning to the defendant (Freedman & Burke, 1996). Typical "high publicity" conditions include information about a prior criminal record of the defendant (e.g., Dexter et al, 1992), retracted confessions (e.g., Dexter et al, 1992;Kerr et al, 1991), or the implication that the defendant, in a crime other than the one at trial, ran over a small child with a car (e.g., Kerr et al, 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Relationship Between Pretrial Publicity and Trial Outcomes

Bruschke

Loges²

1999

Journal of Communication

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Research suggests that pretrial publicity influences trials. Past research has relied heavily on experimental methods. Several commentators have questioned the ecological validity of the studies, and hence the value of the findings. The present study, one of the first to examine actual trials, focused on all federal murder trials over a 3-year period. The results suggested that (a) greater probability of conviction was associated with low rather than high levels of publicity; (b) defendants fared better under moderate rather than no publicity levels; and (c) for defendants who were convicted, any degree of pretrial publicity was associated with longer sentences. In general, the results obtained from studying actual trials differed in important ways from the results obtained in laboratory research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationship Between Pretrial Publicity and Trial Outcomes

Bruschke

Loges²

1999

Journal of Communication

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“…1.1.5 -La corrélation entre la couverture journalistique des procès en droit criminel et la décision des jurés Plusieurs études ont démontré que la publicité médiatique précédant un procès s'avère corrélée avec l'opinion des jurys au sujet de la culpabilité de l'accusé et de la sévérité de la sentence à imposer (Freedman et Burke, 1996;Greene et Loftus, 1984;Greene, 1990;Kerr, 1994;Kramer et al, 1990;Ogloff et Vidmar, 1994). Cependant, aucune étude ne s'est affairée à évaluer la corrélation entre la couverture médiatique du procès-même et les décisions des jurés.…”

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La couverture journalistique des requêtes de révision judiciaire au Canada

Thomassin

Landreville

2001

Canadian Journal of Criminology

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“…Almost all of the research has shown that pretrial publicity does affect pretrial opinions. Those who have heard actual news reports of a crime tend to be more pro-prosecution (Constantini & Kmg, 1980;Freedman & Burke, 1996;Rollings & Blascovitch, 1977) as are those who live near where the crime was committed, and therefore probably heard more about the case (McConahay, Mullin & Frederick, 1977;Moran & Cutler, 1991;Riley, 1973;Vidmar & Judson, 1981). Experiments with mock jurors have also found that pretrial attitudes were affected by publicity (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pretrial publicity: Effects of admonition and expressing pretrial opinions

Freedman

Martin

Mota

1998

Legal Criminol Psychol

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Purpose. To assess the effect of pretrial publicity on mock jurors' post‐trial opinions and verdicts, and to investigate the role of the judge's admonition to ignore information obtained outside the trial and the role of asking jurors for their opinions before the trial. Methods. In two studies, university students were exposed to pretrial publicity that was either negative or neutral towards the defendant, a week or more later were shown a videotape of a trial, and asked for their opinions about guilt and their verdicts. In Study 1, with 99 participants, the judge's instruction either did or did not contain a specific admonition to ignore information outside the trial. In Study 2, with 78 participants, pretrial opinions either were or were not solicited. Results. Neither study found any main effect of pretrial publicity. In Study 1, jurors given the specific admonition were less likely to think the defendant was guilty. In Study 2, only when participants were asked for their pretrial opinions of guilt were their post‐trial opinions and verdicts significantly affected by negative pretrial publicity. Conclusions. The post‐trial effects of pretrial publicity are not strong and robust, but rather appear to depend on other factors in the situation. We interpret the effect of the specific admonition as being due to a leaning‐over‐backwards phenomenon. We interpret the effect of soliciting pretrial opinions as magnifying the effects of pretrial publicity and producing an overestimate of their strength.

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The effect of pretrial publicity: The Bernardo case

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Relationship Between Pretrial Publicity and Trial Outcomes

Relationship Between Pretrial Publicity and Trial Outcomes

La couverture journalistique des requêtes de révision judiciaire au Canada

Pretrial publicity: Effects of admonition and expressing pretrial opinions

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