INADMISSIBLE TESTIMONY, INSTRUCTIONS TO DISREGARD, AND THE JURY - SUBSTANTIVE VERSUS PROCEDURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The present study tested the hypothesis that jurors comply selectively with instructions to disregard inadmissible evidence. A total of 81 m ock jurors read a murder trial summary in which a wiretap was ruled ad missible, inadmissible because it was not reliable, or inadmissible be cause it was illegally obtained (there was also a no-wiretap control g roup). As predicted, participants were more likely to vote guilty and interpret subsequent evidence as more incriminating in the admissible and inadmissible/due-process conditions than in the admissible/unrelia ble and control groups. These results suggest that jurors are influenc ed not by the judge's ruling per se but by the causal basis for that r uling. Conceptual and practical implications are discussed.