Facing trial by a gray-haired jury? If you're male, start worrying.
A study
of felony trials in two Florida counties, from 2000 to 2010, found that
having older jurors results in higher rates of conviction. Defense
attorneys seem to grasp this; they disproportionately use their
peremptory challenges to exclude older jurors, the study found. And so
do prosecutors, who tend to strike young people.
Because so many factors affect jury
selection in individual trials, researchers focused on the age of people
in the jury pool. When the average age exceeded 50, which was about
half the time, the conviction rate was 79%. When the average age was
below 50, the conviction rate dropped to 68%.
Women, who made up less than 10% of total defendants, were convicted less often when the jury pool was older.
"A Fair and Impartial Jury? The Role of Age in Jury
Selection and Trial Outcomes," Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer and Randi
Hjalmarsson, NBER Working Paper (March)
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