The testimony of elderly victim/witnesses and their impact on juror decisions: The importance of examining multiple stereotypes

The goal of the current investigation was to determine how jurors may be in fluenced by elderly victim/witnesses. Stereotypes of elderly victim/witness es were hypothesized to differentially impact jurors' perceptions and decis ions. Participants (255 college and 229 community members who were jury-eli gible) read a trial summary describing the aggravated assault of a man. The described case hinged on the victim's eyewitness identification of the def endant. The description of the victims was varied in order to examine five types of victim/witnesses: (1) a generic adult victim, described as being 3 1 years of age, (2) a generic elderly witness, described as being 66 years of age, (3) a 66-year-old senior citizen described to elicit the vulnerable -senior stereotype, (4) a 66-year-old grandfather, and (5) a 66-year-old st atesman. Contrary to expectations, no significant differences were found be tween the college and community samples. Further, ratings of the victims' b elievability did not vary as a function of the different victim types. Howe ver, verdict differences were found for the different victim types. The pro portion of guilty verdicts awarded in the statesman condition was significa ntly higher than those awarded when the victim was a generic adult, senior citizen, or grandfather. A significant difference was also found between th e vulnerable senior citizen and the generic elderly case, with the generic elderly victim receiving a greater proportion of guilty verdicts than the v ulnerable senior citizen.