Lora Levett
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Turlington 3336
P.O. Box 117330
Gainesville, FL 32611
352-392-0265, ext 205
llevett@ufl.edu
Lora M. Levett, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Jurors' Decisions about Expert Evidence
This series of studies uses the dual-process models of persuasion to explore how jurors make decisions about expert testimony. The Supreme Court opined that if invalid science were admitted in court, one way of ensuring that it woudl not affect juror decision-making would be through calling an opposing expert. This series of studies tests the assumptions underlying that ruling. Do opposing experts effectively educate jurors about junk science? If not, why? Are opposing experts viewed as hired guns? How can we improve jurors' decisions about scientific evidence?
Grants, Publications and Recent Conference Presentations on Jurors' Decisions about Expert Evidence:
Levett, L.M. & Kovera, M.B. (2009) Evaluating and
understanding the opposing expert safeguard against junk science. Psychology, Public Policy, and the Law, 15, 124-148.
Levett, L.M. & Kovera, M.B. (2008). Can opposing experts
educate jurors about unreliable expert evidence on child eyewitness memory? Law and Human Behavior, 32, 363-374.
Hayes-Smith, R.M. & Levett, L.M. (2011). The jury is still out: The CSI effect on juror decisions. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 7, 29-46.
Levett, L.M. & Kovera, M.B. (2006). Improving the
opposing expert safeguard against junk science: Does a non-adversarial expert
work? Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society of Criminology,
Los Angeles, CA
Levett, L.M. & Kovera, M.B. (2006). Psychological
mediators in the relationship between opposing expert testimony and juror
decisions. In L.M. Levett (Chair), Juror Decision Making about Expert
Evidence. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the American Psychology-Law
Society, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Levett, L. M., & Kovera, M. B.
(2005). Juror reasoning about expert psychological testimony. Paper presented at the 29th
International Congress on Law and Mental Health, Paris, France.
Kovera, M.B. & Levett, L.M. (2004-2005). Dissertation
Improvement Grant: Psychological mediators of the influence of opposing expert
witnesses on juror decisions. National
Science Foundation, $12,800. SBE #0453197.
Levett, L.M. & Kovera, M.B. (2003). Can opposing experts
educate jurors about unreliable expert evidence on child eyewitness
memory? In B. Cutler and L.
VanWallandael (Co-Chairs), Expert psychological testimony on eyewitness
memory. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the International,
Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychology and Law, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Links to Research Projects:
Issues in Jury and Juror Decision Making
Antecedents and Consequences of Wrongful Conviction
Contact Information:
University of Florida
Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law
P.O. Box 117330
Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone: 352-392-0265, extension 205
Email: llevett@ufl.edu
