MOCK JURORS INSANITY DEFENSE VERDICT SELECTIONS - THE ROLE OF EVIDENCE, ATTITUDES, AND VERDICT OPTIONS

A mock insanity defense trial was presented to 140 college undergradua tes by means of an audiotape and synchronized slides. Participants ans wered a series of questions regarding the case and their predeliberati on verdict selections. Consistent with prior research,jurors who selec ted a guilty verdict neither believed that the defendant could be reha bilitated nor that he suffered from some mental disease or defect. Jur ors who opted for a guilty verdict held favorable attitudes toward the death penalty, were crime-control oriented, and held unfavorable atti tudes toward the insanity defense. Jurors who rendered a Guilty But Me ntally III verdict differed significantly in their evaluations of the defendant's mental status. Mean ratings for jurors reaching this verdi ct were intermediate between the ratings of jurors reaching Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and guilty verdicts. Although jurors attitudes and their evaluations of the evidence were both important correlates o f verdict selection, evaluation of the evidence was weighted more heav ily in the function discriminating among verdicts.