Data_Sheet_1_Greater Knowledge Enhances Complainant Credibility and Increases Jury Convictions for Child Sexual Assault.PDF

Child sexual assault (CSA) cases reliant on uncorroborated testimony yield low conviction rates. Past research demonstrated a strong relationship between verdict and juror CSA knowledge such as typical delays in reporting by victims, and perceived victim credibility. This trial simulation experiment examined the effectiveness of interventions by an expert witness or an educative judicial direction in reducing jurors' CSA misconceptions. Participants were 885 jurors in New South Wales, Australia. After viewing a professionally acted video trial, half the jurors rendered individual verdicts and half deliberated in groups of 8–12 before completing a post-trial questionnaire. Multilevel structural equation modeling exploring the relationship between CSA knowledge and verdict demonstrated that greater CSA knowledge after the interventions increased the odds ratio to convict by itself, and that the judicial direction predicted a higher level of post-trial CSA knowledge in jurors than other expert interventions. Moreover, greater CSA knowledge was associated with heightened credibility perceptions of the complainant and a corroborating witness. At the conclusion of the trial, the more jurors knew about CSA, the higher the perceived credibility of both the complainant and her grandmother, and the more likely jurors were to convict the accused.

依赖无佐证证词的儿童性侵犯（Child Sexual Assault，缩写CSA）案件定罪率普遍偏低。既往研究表明，案件裁决与陪审员对CSA的认知水平存在显著关联，例如被害人典型的报案延迟情形以及对被害人可信度的主观判断。本项庭审模拟实验旨在检验专家证人作证或教育性司法指引这两种干预手段在降低陪审员对CSA的认知偏差方面的有效性。实验参与者为澳大利亚新南威尔士州的885名陪审员。在观看专业演员演绎的视频庭审后，半数陪审员单独作出裁决，另一半则以8至12人为一组进行合议，随后完成庭审后调查问卷。本研究采用多层结构方程模型探究CSA认知水平与案件裁决之间的关联，结果显示：干预后陪审员对CSA的认知程度越高，其作出有罪裁决的优势比也越高；且相较于其他专家证人干预手段，司法指引可使陪审员在庭审后获得更高水平的CSA认知。此外，陪审员对CSA的认知程度越高，其对被害人及佐证证人的可信度主观评价也越高。在庭审结束时，陪审员对CSA的认知程度越高，其对被害人及其祖母的可信度主观评价也越高，陪审员判定被告有罪的概率也随之提升。