Childhood Trauma of Defendants Elicits Jurors’ Leniency: Study
Sympathy for a defendant who suffered adverse childhood experiences was especially pronounced in death penalty trials, according to a Minnesota State University survey that used hypothetical cases.
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A new study by researchers at Minnesota State University (MSU) examining the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on jurors’ sentencing decisions in hypothetical death penalty cases has found that defense testimony about a defendant’s traumatic childhood elicited jurors’ leniency, reports Phys.org. Criminologists are increasingly focusing on ACEs as risk factors for criminal and violent behavior, with traumatic childhood events, such as maltreatment, sexual abuse, exposure to violence and substance abuse, and parents’ abandonment, among others, having been found to have profound consequences for future criminal behavior.
The study involved about 1,500 primarily non-Hispanic and female participants in mock juror settings, in which defendants’ exposure to ACEs as mitigating evidence was manipulated. Participants who received information about defendants’ ACEs were 35 percent to 50 percent less likely to vote for the death penalty than participants who were not given that information. Sentencing decisions were also affected by assessments of blameworthiness, future dangerousness and sympathy.
