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‘Telling tales’: exploring narratives of life and law within the (mock) jury room

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Louise Ellison  and
Vanessa E Munro
Louise Ellison*
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Vanessa E Munro*
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
*
Louise Ellison, University of Leeds, School of Law, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. Email: [email protected]. Vanessa E Munro, University of Nottingham, Law, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Email: [email protected]
Louise Ellison, University of Leeds, School of Law, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. Email: [email protected]. Vanessa E Munro, University of Nottingham, Law, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Based on a findings of a simulation study in which 160 members of the public observed a mini rape trial re-enactment and were then asked to deliberate in jury groups towards a unanimous verdict, this paper explores the extent to which participants were able, and willing, to understand and apply judicial directions, and the legal tests or criteria contained therein. More specifically, it reflects on whether the additional provision of written directions in the jury room influenced the tone or direction of jurors' discussions, and illustrates the limited recourse made by participants to their contents, as well as their tendency to misinterpret or misapply them when they were relied upon. Having done so, this paper moves on to explore the reasons behind this limited impact, suggesting that fundamental tensions may exist between legal and lay imaginaries, such that jurors are reluctant to jettison their more natural inclinations to reach individual and collective verdicts on the basis of narrative constructions grounded in ‘common sense’ and ‘personal experience’.

Type
Research Article
Information
Legal Studies , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 201 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Society of Legal Scholars 2015

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Footnotes

*

Louise Ellison is Professor of Law at the University of Leeds and Vanessa E Munro is Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Nottingham. We are indebted to the ESRC for funding this research (Ref RES-000-22-4277), to the project's Advisory Group and to all those who participated in the trial reconstructions.

References

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51. Ibid, at 51.

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