| Sumario: | Across two studies, the influence of the number of officers, defendant gender, and victim gender on mock-juror decision making for a use of force case was examined. In addition, the influence of participant attitudes toward the police and gender role stereotypes was examined. In both studies, mock-jurors read a mock-trial transcript that described an interaction with police officers where a civilian died from injuries caused by the use of force. In Study 1, none of the independent variables had any effects on dichotomous verdict, guilt ratings (i.e., guilt rated on a 101-point scale), perceptions of the defendant, or sympathy toward the victim. In Study 2, the number of officers affected guilt ratings, such that the defendant received higher guilt ratings when there were more officers involved. Across both studies, mock-juror attitudes toward the police were found to be influential, such that those with more positive perceptions of the police assigned lower guilt ratings, had more favourable perceptions of the defendant, and had less sympathy toward the victim. Overall, the results of the present study provide insight into the role of juror attitudes on decision making for cases involving police use of force.
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