ABSTRACT

Research into juror perceptions regarding the impact of intoxication on eyewitness memory and credibility is scarce for substances other than alcohol. However, jurors are frequently told to draw on their personal beliefs and experience with intoxicating substances to infer their impact on the case. It is therefore important to investigate laypeople’s perceptions regarding witness and victim intoxication across a range of substances, and whether these perceptions are associated with substance familiarity. Participants (n = 470) completed a survey assessing familiarity and use of different substances, as well as perceptions regarding effects on the memory and credibility of intoxicated victims and witnesses. While participants most frequently reported believing that alcohol, hallucinogens, and polysubstance use of alcohol and cannabis have large negative effects on memory, they more frequently reported that they do not know the extent to which cannabis and cocaine affect memory. In addition, attitudes were found to vary based on substance familiarity. Differences with respect to the perceived impact on memory and credibility of various substances can have relevance to court proceedings, particularly in terms of voir dire procedures, jury instructions, and whether an expert witness is required to educate the court on the impacts of different forms of intoxication.

摘要

对陪审员关于醉酒对目击者记忆力和可信度影响的看法的研究对于酒精以外的物质来说是稀缺的。然而，陪审员经常被告知要利用他们的个人信仰和使用令人陶醉的物质的经验来推断它们对案件的影响。因此，重要的是调查外行人对一系列物质的目击者和受害者中毒的看法，以及这些看法是否与物质熟悉程度有关。参与者（n = 470) 完成了一项调查，评估不同物质的熟悉程度和使用情况，以及对醉酒受害者和证人的记忆力和可信度影响的看法。虽然参与者最常报告认为酒精、致幻剂和使用酒精和大麻的多种物质对记忆有很大的负面影响，但他们更经常报告说他们不知道大麻和可卡因对记忆的影响程度。此外，人们发现态度会因物质熟悉程度而异。各种物质对记忆和可​​信度的感知影响的差异可能与法庭诉讼有关，特别是在voir dire方面程序、陪审团指示，以及是否需要专家证人就不同形式的醉酒的影响对法庭进行教育。