Effects of Emotional Testimony and Gruesome Photographs on Mock Jurors' Decisions and Negative Emotions

The present study investigated the combined and individual effects of emotional testimony and gruesome photographs on mock jurors’ verdict decisions and emotions. Participants (n = 127) were provided with a murder trial transcript and then rendered verdicts in a 2 (emotional testimony: present, absent) × 2 (gruesome photographs: present, absent) between-groups design. They also rated their negative emotions before and after the transcript. The results indicated a combined effect of emotional testimony and gruesome photographs on verdict decisions: the emotional testimony alone had a significant effect on guilty verdicts while the gruesome photographs had only a marginally significant effect. Negative emotions were aroused by the emotional testimony when the gruesome photographs were not presented. The impact of emotional evidence on verdict decisions is discussed.