Oj Simpson And OJ Simpson's Jury Decision Making Process

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Narrative
On June 12, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were discovered in the front of professional football player, OJ Simpson’s front porch. One of the biggest televised trial in history, OJ Simpson was held on trial for the accusation of the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. During a time of hectic hate crime and police brutality, race and social status became a huge component of this infamous trial.
Background Information
The study of psychology and law is a subset of social psychology. Especially when it comes to jury decision making, psychology plays an important role on how a decision is reached. A jury is not supposed to be affected by evidence that isn’t explicitly mentioned in the court case. When …show more content…

These people have observed the importance of evidence, external influences, and internal biases as factors that influence a jury’s decision. Evidence is one of the leading causes of jury bias because of its statistically significant impact on a jury’s final decision. There have been faults in verdicts due to poorly given evidence.“A major criticism of the jury system is that jurors frequently lack the capacity or competence to understand all aspects of the evidence, particularly in longer and more complex trials”(Tinsley, Yvette). If members of the jury are unaware of what the evidence is directly stating, they are more likely to present inaccurate arguments in jury …show more content…

This is because internal biases are always psychological. Some of the major internal biases that have been observed and studied are race, gender, attractiveness, and social status. Race, being one of the most commonly known judgment, is proven to have some influence on how a jury decides on their verdict. For example, “if jurors’ prototypes about crimes and criminal defendants are racially biased at the outset, those prototypes may be invoked to find minority defendants, or those who kill White victims, more worthy of death sentences”(Winter, Ryan). These biases are usually thought subconsciously so the juror is unaware that they are stereotyping the defendants thoughts. When a member of the jury found the suspect to be attractive or unattractive, it has been shown to impact their verdict. “Less attractive people are considered more likely to be guilty compared to attractive people”. “The study found that 40 subjects who were shown photographs of attractive and unattractive people overwhelmingly chose the latter group as probable armed robbers and murderers”(Kirk,

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