ABSTRACT

In many legal systems, preliminary proceedings and the prosecutor’s charging decision predict the outcome of the trial, as reflected in high conviction rates. This charging decision is mostly based on the final police report, which is primarily aimed to substantiate the given suspicion and may lead to a preponderance of incriminating evidence. We investigated if a written statement by the defense (an alternative story) can balance out this information disparity and can alter the charging decision. Building on classical debiasing methods, the Story Model and narrative persuasion, we hypothesized that an alternative story reduces the likelihood of being charged, because the police report becomes less unique. Participants of three experiments (criminal-law students, N = 684) received either only the police report, or the police report plus an alternative story (vs. a statement merely claiming innocence) and were asked to make charging decisions. The presence of prior conviction evidence (PCE) was varied. Results show that 1) an alternative story reduces (and PCE increases) the likelihood of being charged, 2) a statement merely claiming innocence is less but still effective, and 3) PCE effects were small and inconsistent. Underlying mechanisms, implications for criminal procedural law, and applicability to adversarial systems are discussed.

摘要

在许多法律制度中，初步程序和检察官的指控决定预示着审判的结果，这反映在高定罪率上。该指控决定主要基于最终的警方报告，该报告的主要目的是证实给定的怀疑，并可能导致有罪证据的优势。我们调查了辩方的书面声明（另一个故事）是否可以平衡这种信息差异并改变收费决定。基于经典的去偏见方法、故事模型和叙事说服，我们假设另一个故事会降低被指控的可能性，因为警方的报告变得不那么独特了。三个实验的参与者（刑法学生，N = 684) 仅收到警方报告，或警方报告加上另一个故事（相对于仅声称无罪的声明），并被要求做出指控决定。先前定罪证据（PCE）的存在是多种多样的。结果表明，1) 另一个故事减少（并且 PCE 增加）被指控的可能性，2) 仅声称无罪的陈述较少但仍然有效，以及 3) PCE 影响很小且不一致。讨论了潜在的机制、对刑事诉讼法的影响以及对抗性系统的适用性。