The Effects of Prior Experience on Mock Juror Case Judgments

The effects of prior experience on case judgments were investigated by asking mock jurors to decide defendants' guilt in either a rape-vandalism or vandalism-rape case presentation order. Mock jurors with prior experience on the rape case were found to favor conviction in the vandalism case significantly more often than jurors without such experience. However, jurors with prior experience on the vandalism case were .gnificantly less likely to convict the defendant in the rape case than those judging that case without experience. Various explanations along with the two major hypotheses motivating the study are discussed, and the implications of effects from repeated experience are considered in light of recent proposals to reduce the required term of jury service.