Juror stress: sources and implications.

Apublic trial by an impartial jury is an integral part of the U.S. judicial system. Although the jury trial has long been lauded as an effective means to inject community values into the judicial fact-finding process, until recently little thought was given to the impact jury service has on jurors.

Research shows that jurors tend to take their responsibilities very seriously, and they make decisions that greatly affect other people's lives. An increasing number of media reports suggests that jurors experience high levels of stress in certain types of cases.(1) This stress may affect the way they perform their duties or may have a deleterious effect on them personally. A number of questions about juror stress need to be answered:

* Under what circumstances does juror stress appear?

* When do stress levels become harmful for jurors?

* What factors enhance or diminish juror stress?

* What can and should the legal system do to assist jurors?

Considerable media attention has focused on some recent cases that apparently caused juror stress. In the highly publicized Reginald Denny beating case in Los Angeles, there were many indications that jurors were struggling to cope with high levels of stress.(2) The Rodney King beating trial evoked similar reactions.(3)

Juror stress is most often reported in trials that include descriptions of unusually high levels of violence. Jurors may experience stress when they examine graphic or grisly evidence and listen to testimony or view a videotape that recreates violent acts.(4) Jurors in these trials have reported experiencing stress-related symptoms for weeks or months afterward. Some have independently sought professional counseling that may continue for years.(5)

In a survey by the National Law Journal of 50 jurors who had served on highprofile cases in 1992--including the Rodney King beating trial, the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith, and the murder trial of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer--62 percent said they experienced stress from their jury service.(6)

Research on Stress

Media reports of juror stress tend to focus on isolated cases and anecdotal accounts. They do not systematically examine its prevalence, its sources, and factors that exacerbate or mitigate it. Nor have they determined what can or should be done about juror stress, nor evaluated strategies for preventing stress or responding to it.

Of course, some systematic research on juror stress has been conducted.(7) Research studies have generally found that jurors in notorious or traumatic cases are likely to show symptoms of stress. In a case involving the deaths of 27 students in Kentucky when their school bus overturned in an alcohol-related traffic accident, jurors were given frequent recesses during the trial to regain their composure. Many of them appeared shaken and emotionally distraught. At a follow-up conducted 18 months later, most of these jurors reported experiencing stressrelated symptoms, some for months after the trial.(8) Symptoms included intrusive thoughts of the trial, feelings of rest-lessness and agitation, sleep difficulties, and disturbing dreams.

Of 40 jurors from two murder cases, a child abuse case, and a pornography trial, 27 showed psychological or physiological reactions to their experience.(9) Jurors from two highly visible and grisly trials demonstrated "almost identical" emotional and cognitive responses despite differences in the juries' demographic makeup and the communities in which the trials were held.(10)

A mailed survey of 312 jurors in Dallas was conducted to differentiate the levels of stress experienced by jurors serving in "traumatic" and "non-traumatic" trials. The researchers concluded that jurors serving on traumatic trials were almost six times more likely to show symptoms associated with depression than jurors serving on non-traumatic trials.(11)

As the first step in a nationwide comprehensive study, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) tested a method in two Maryland courts to assess and respond to juror stress in two high-profile murder trials where the evidence was particularly graphic and gruesome: the Pamela Basu carjacking trials.(12) In these cases, the co-defendants were tried separately for first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping. They were convicted of having forced Basu from the wheel of her car at a stop sign a block from her home in a relatively well-to-do suburb of Washington, D.C.

Apparently, after being forced out of the car, Basu reached into the backseat to get her 22-month-old daughter, became entangled in the seat belt, and was dragged at high speeds for more than a mile and a half while hanging from the driver's-side door. she was knocked loose when the defendants drove the car into a barbed wire fence. This crime shocked the nation, stimulated legislation to make carjacking a federal crime, and prompted many states to enact stricter penalties against carjackers.

Jurors, alternates, members of the voir dire panel, and court officials participated in the NCSC study. Following completion of their duties, they were asked to complete a set of questionnaires designed to assess stress levels. The stress levels computed for voir dire members provided a baseline for comparison with the stress levels of jurors and alternates.

In addition, debriefing sessions were conducted with jurors and alternates to learn more about the specific nature of their stress, its sources, and how to help them address it. Jurors and alternates were asked to complete the questionnaires again three months later to determine whether the stress was long-lasting. Results showed that jurors and alternates experienced significant levels of stress. During post-trial debriefing sessions, jurors and alternates were often eager to discuss the stress they experienced.

One aspect of their stress responses is clinically referred to as secondary trauma, an empathic reaction felt by people in response to trauma experienced by another.(13) Secondary trauma most often occurs in families when one family member is the victim of physical or emotional injury.

Researchers have also documented secondary trauma in rescue workers, police, and firefighters who respond to disaster situations.(14) Officials who are responsible for emergency-response personnel have begun to pay more attention to identifying the kinds of situations where post-traumatic stress disorder is likely to occur and to providing counseling and other assistance where needed.(15)

Increased Reports

Until recently there were few, if any, reports of juror stress. There are a number of possible explanations for the recent surge in reports.

For example, juror stress may be an epiphenomenon, driven principally by sensation-seeking reporters who recognize that most readers have been jurors or know someone who has been one. Since trials where the events are tragic and the evidence grisly tend to receive considerable media attention, a spin-off article focusing on juror stress may be a natural outgrowth. These reports may also have a domino effect as prospective jurors who read them become more susceptible to stress or are likely to believe they experienced stress during their trials.

There are, however, a number of specific trial-related variables that may be increasing the levels of stress. Furthermore, these variables may be building on each other, enhancing their overall impact.(16)

Media coverage of trials, for example, may be contributing to juror stress. Particularly for notorious or controversial trials, coverage can be intimidating for jurors. They may be forced to run a gauntlet of reporters and photographers on their way to and from the courtroom every day.

Jurors may also believe that media accounts will subject them to intimidation or harassment from the community or from disappointed litigants. Jurors in criminal trials may be concerned that convicted defendants or their family members will seek them out for retaliation.(17)

Moreover, extensive pre-trial publicity may increase the likelihood that jurors will be sequestered for part or all of the trial.(And there may also be greater use of jury sequestration if the number of notorious or controversial trials is increasing.) Sequestration makes jurors more susceptible to stress by further disrupting their lives.(18) Pre-trial publicity may also create a self-fulfilling prophecy as presensitized jurors report heightened stress levels.

Reports of juror stress may be increasing because the number of jury trials centering on violent acts has increased, although current research has not addressed this possibility. Trials may also be becoming more intense or prolonged in general, also raising stress levels.

Since jurors are prohibited from discussing a trial with anyone until its conclusion, long trials extend the period of time when jurors are forced to internalize their stress. Typically, jurors are even prohibited from discussing what they hear during a trial with fellow jurors until all the evidence is presented.

Juror stress may be more likely when the deliberations are difficult. In one case, for example, jurors reported feeling angry and frustrated with the judicial process for requiring them to render a verdict in a case for which they could find no fair resolution.(19)

Changes in the nature of jury duty and jury deliberations may also be contributing to increased stress. Greater heterogeneity in the composition of juries and greater fragmentation in society in general may be contributing to more heated debates during jury deliberations.

Another possible explanation for the increased number of reports of juror stress may be that jurors (and people in general) are more susceptible to stress or may be more willing to acknowledge that they are experiencing stress. In recent years, greater attention has been given to its harmful effects, and society has become more sensitive to these effects.

Also, stress effects are often cumulative. The stress jurors experience during jury duty may be compounded by the effects of stress in their personal lives.(20)

Considerable speculation has arisen that life in general--and work in particular--is becoming more stressful. In addition, to the extent that jury dury may increasingly be seen as inconvenient or onerous, the stress associated with reporting for jury duty may make jurors more vulnerable to the stress they later experience during a trial.

Graphic Evidence

Finally, the nature of the evidence being presented to jurors may have changed. As attorneys seek ways to present their cases as persuasively as possible, greater attention is being given to presenting evidence in a striking manner. Attorneys are likely to use technological innovations that increase the impact of the evidence they are presenting.(21)

Blowups, videotapes, and computer simulations may all be used to graphically describe the events that transpired. In the Pamela Basu carjacking case, jurors saw enlarged photos and a police videotape of the victim's half-nude body wrapped in barbed wire. They also saw a videotape taken by the victim's husband just before the events occurred, showing his wife taking their daughter to her first day of preschool. The defendants were shown walking in the background, placing them near the scene of the crime.(22)

This evidence makes the events particularly vivid. It also makes it more difficult for jurors to dissociate themselves from the depicted events. Instead, they may become more aware that these events could have happened to themselves or to their loved ones.

Furthermore, as attorneys are encouraged to increase the pace of their presentations, jurors have less "downtime" during which to detach themselves from the events they are being asked to relive.

And jurors will not be asked to relive these events a single time. Typically, they will relive them over and over as multiple witnesses and presentations emphasize the accuracy of the lawyer's portrayal of events.

Jurors will have to relive the experience again during deliberations. They will recall and discuss key events repeatedly as they try to persuade one another that their interpretations are correct.

Thus far, virtually no work has been done to determine systematically whether the incidence or severity of juror stress is increasing or to identify particular sources of it. Some trial procedures may actually ameliorate juror stress. For example, jury deliberations may help jurors work through the stress they experience during a trial.

There may be steps that courts and litigants can take to relieve stress, such as permitting jurors to discuss the trial among themselves as it transpires or limiting the use of unnecessarily graphic or gruesome evidence. However, there has been no systematic study of these issues.

Until more systematic analysis is conducted, the legal system is faced with an increasing number of relatively unsubstantiated accounts of juror stress. If left unanswered, the questions raised by these reports have the potential to make people more reluctant to report for jury duty. They may leave the jury system at risk because jurors who are experiencing heightened levels of stress may not adequately fulfill their responsibilities.

The judicial system, including both judges and lawyers, may have a responsibility to ensure that jurors do not unduly experience adverse physical and mental health consequences as a result of their jury duty.(23) Some judges have arranged for mental health professionals to conduct debriefing sessions for jurors after particularly difficult trials. But the impact of these sessions and of less drastic measures has yet to be systematically assessed.

The U.S. judicial system depends on the willing participation of citizen jurors. It is, therefore, important that greater attention be given to understanding the impact of juror stress and to determining appropriate responses to it.

Notes

(1)Thomas L. Hafemeister & W. Larry Ventis, Juror Stress: What Burdens Have We Placed on Our Juries? ST. CT. J. 35 (1992), reprinted in 56(6) TEX. B.M. 586 (1993); Thomas L. Hafemeister, Juror Stress, 8(2) VIOLENCE & VICTIMS 177 (1993).

(2)Christine Spolar & William Hamilton, In Denny Beating Trial, Jury Saga Is the Subplot, WASH. POST, Oct. 20, 1993, at A3.

(3)Sally O. Davis, The Last Angry Woman: Why King Trial Juror Lindy Miller No Longer Believes in Truth, Justice and the American Way, L.A. MAG. 58 (1993).

(4)See, e.g., Kate D. Rauch, After the Verdict: Healing Jurors Who Have Been Traumatized by Violent Testimony, WASH. POST, Apr. 14, 1992, at 10 (Health Section); Daniel Goleman, For Many Jurors, Trials Begin After the Verdict, N.Y. TIMES, May 14, 1991, at C1.

(5)Big Cases Bring Lots of Stress, NAT'L L.J., Feb. 22, 1993, at S14; Roger A. Bell & Theodore B. Feldmann, Managing Stress in the Jury Box, NEWSDAY, Jan. 22, 1992, at 74.

(6)Big Cases Bring Lots of Stress, supra note 5.

(7)Stanley M. Kaplan & Carolyn Winget, The Occupational Hazards of Jury Duty, 20 BULL. AM. ACAD. PSYCH. & L. 325 (1992); Roger A. Bell & Theodore B. Feldmann, Crisis Debriefing of Juries: A Follow-up, AM. J. PREVENTIVE PSYCH. & NEUROLOGY (Fall 1992).

(8)See Theodore B. Feldmann & Roger A. Bell, Crisis Debriefing of a Jury After a Murder Trial, 42 HOSP. & COMMUNITY PSYCH. 79 (1991).

(9)Kaplan & Winget, supra note 7.

(10)Bell & Feldmann, supra note 7.

(11)Daniel W. Shuman et al., The Health Effects of Jury Service, 17 LAW & PSYCHOL. REV. (forthcoming 1994).

(12)State v. Bernard E. Miller, No. 27164 (Md., Howard County Cir. Ct. June 29, 1993); State v. Rodney Eugene Solomon, No. 93CR1340 (Md., Baltimore County Cir. Ct. Aug. 18, 1993).

(13)Charles R. Figley, Catastrophes: An Overview of Family Reactions, in STRESS AND THE FAMILY VOL. II: COPING WITH CATASTROPHE 12 (Charles R. Figley & H. I. McCubbin eds., 1983). See also Robert C. Davis & Lucy N. Friedman, The Emotional Aftermath of Crime and Violence, in TRAUMA AND ITS WAKE: THE STUDY AND TREATMENT OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER 106 (Charles R. Figley ed., 1985).

(14)Carol S. Fullerton et al., Psychological Responses of Rescue Workers: Fire Fighters and Trauma, 62 AM. J. ORTHOPSYCHIATRY 371 (1992); Jacquelyn W. White et al., Factors of Stress Among Police Officers, 12 CRIM. JUST. & BEHAV. III (1985); Robert J. Ursano & Carol S. Fullerton, Cognitive and Behavioral Responses to Trauma, 20 J. APPLIED SOC. PSYCHOL. 1766 (1990).

(15)See, e.g., Graciela Sevilla, For Police and Others, Basu Case Has Wrung an Emotional Toll, WASH. POST, Apr. 19, 1993, at B3.

(16)TIMOTHY R. MURPHY ET AL., A MANUAL FOR MANAGING NOTORIOUS CASES 70-75 (1992).

(17)Eric Malnic, Foreman in Simi Valley Trial Says Riots, 'National Hate' Stressed Jury, L.A. TIMES, Mar. 9, 1993, at A18; Bell & Feldmann, supra note 7.

(18)Beth Holland, Gotti Jurors' Tour of Duty a Stress Test, NEWSDAY, Jan. 27, 1992, at 6.

(19)Bell & Feldmann, supra note 7, at 80.

(20)During the Reginald Denny trial, the enhanced stress level of one juror, who ran through the halls of the hotel where the jury was sequestered shouting "I can't take it anymore," was attributed to her concerns about the possible negative impact of sequestration on an amorous relationship of hers. William Hamilton, Denny Beating Trial Judge Releases Juror Transcripts: Record Reveals Behavior Before Removing 2, Retaining 1, WASH. POST, Oct. 15, 1993, at A2.

(21)See, e.g., Gordon Walker, Show Time, 15(4) AM. LAW. 7 (May 1993); Richard Carelli, Videotapes May be Vivid, but They Aren't Foolproof as Evidence, ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 1, 1992 (LEXIS, Nexis library, OMNI file).

(22)Graciela Sevilla, Basu Jurors Shown Grisly Tape of Crime Scene, WASH. POST, Apr. 16, 1993, at D1.

(23)Victoria Slind-Flor, Counties Begin to Help Jurors Cope Afterward, NAT'L L. J., Jan. 20, 1992, at 3.