Victim impact evidence in a capital trial: Encouraging votes for death

Abstract

Subjects individually read a description of either a moderately aggravated or a severely aggravated murder and were informed that the defendant had already been convicted of first degree murder. Their task was to decide on the penalty of life imprisonment versus death. Subjects then read summaries of the prosecution and defense penalty arguments, after which they either read or did not read a statement describing the impact of the victim’s death on the victim’s family. Significantly more subjects exposed to the victim impact statement voted for death than those not exposed to the statement. Victim impact evidence led to increased numbers of subjects voting for death for both crimes, and victim impact evidence had its strongest effects on individuals who already favored the death penalty.