Juror perceptions of child eyewitness testimony in a sexual abuse trial.

摘要

A mock child sexual abuse trial was used to study juror perceptions of child eyewitnesses. The child's age (5, 11, or 16) and level of involvement (victim or bystander) were varied across conditions in order to test their impact on juror perceptions and verdict. Results indicated a significant effect of level of involvement on verdict; defendants in trials involving a bystander witness received higher guilt ratings than defendants in trials with a victim witness. Also shown in the study was a juror tendency to find children's eyewitness testimony as more believable at younger ages. Implications for the impact of these findings on real life child sexual abuse cases are discussed.