Social Framework Testimony and Race Salience: Examining Bias Correction in the Current Context

Abstract

This juror-simulation study tested whether expert testimony about police relations with Black/Indigenous persons would mitigate potential verdict discrepancies by making race a salient issue, and whether perceived police legitimacy would predict perceptions of race salience and/or effectiveness of the salience manipulation. Jury-eligible community members (N = 392) read a trial transcript in which the defendant claims self-defense for the killing of a police officer. We manipulated defendant race (Black/Indigenous/White) and the presence of expert testimony in which a sociologist described the experience of racialized persons with police. Participants provided verdicts, rated perceptions that racial issues featured prominently in the trial (i.e., perceived race salience), and completed a police legitimacy measure. Results revealed non-significant effects of defendant race and expert testimony on verdicts. Those higher in perceptions of police legitimacy had a greater likelihood of voting guilty and less favourable attitudes toward the expert, with the opposite pattern for those higher in perceived race salience.