they might decide a case? The short answer is "yes.” After
792 interviews it’s clear — jurors who think the country is on the
wrong track demonstrate a stronger likelihood of voting for the
defense.
Over the past few years, our voter polls have mirrored national
polls which show the country’s citizens increasingly pessimistic
about our nation’s future (“Is the country on the right track, or
off on the wrong track?”). We wanted to see how these trends
were affecting juror verdicts — so we took a look at our data
from the past year. Overall, our jury samples show the same
downward trend, with respondents increasingly perceiving the
country on the wrong track.
Surprisingly however, our data demonstrated a strong
correlation between juror-respondents who believed the
country was on the “wrong track” and jurors siding with
the defense. In fact, 60% of jurors who reported
believing the country is on the“wrong track” also sided
with the defense during jury exercises. Those who
selected “right track” were evenly divided among
plaintiff and defense verdicts.
Do you think the United States is on the Right Track or Wrong Track?
So what do we do with that information? Well, if you’re stuck
on whom to eliminate (and working with the defense) — odds
are you should select the “wrong track” juror. It’ll increase
your odds of finding the juror mindset most predisposed to
understanding your side of the story. Call us if you’d like an
evaluation of your next case.
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