EFFECTIVENESS OF VOIR DIRE AS A SAFEGUARD IN EYEWITNESS CASES

This research examined the effectiveness of voir dire as a legal safeguard in eyewitness cases. For voir dire to serve as an effective safeguard, attorneys must be able to identify and excuse prospective jurors who are unable or unwilling to critically evaluate eyewitness testimony. On the basis of previous research, we hypothesized that attitudes toward eyewitnesses would correlate significantly with jurors' perceptions of defendant culpability in a case in which eyewitness identification plays a pivotal role. We developed a measure of these attitudes and its internal consistency was established. In two trial simulation studies, attitudes toward eyewitnesses correlated weakly and nonsignificantly (p > .05) with mock-juror perceptions of defendant culpability, casting doubt on the effectiveness of voir dire as a safeguard.