The Effect of Defendant Race and Race Salience on Jury Verdicts

Researchers have reported conflicting findings about whether mock jurors are more, less, or equally likely to convict Black defendants in mock trials as compared to White defendants. Likewise, past studies have led researchers to disagree on the effect of race salience at trial on verdicts. I therefore examined whether Black defendants were convicted more often than White defendants, as well as whether making race salient in the defense closing argument would reduce guilty verdicts. I randomly assigned 207 participants to read one of four abbreviated trial transcripts in which defendant race (Black, White) and race salience (present, absent) were manipulated in a between-subjects design. After each participant read the assigned trial transcript, they completed attention- and manipulation-checks, rendered a dichotomous verdict, and gave a rating of confidence in that verdict. I ran a logistic regression to determine whether defendant race and/or race salience predicted verdict, as well as whether these variables interacted. Neither race, race salience, nor the interaction were statistically significant. These findings suggest that defendant race and race salience may not always affect verdict.