Unfortunately for defendants, we focus more on situational factors when we evaluate ourselves, but personal characteristics when we evaluate others. If we make a wrong decision at work it might be due to not having all the right information. If someone else makes the same mistake, it’s because he or she is careless or not too bright.
From this viewpoint, it’s understandable why jurors who hear the same evidence can arrive at different conclusions. Each juror filters what goes on in the courtroom through their own global perspectives. As they listen to testimony, they will focus more on evidence that’s consistent with and supports their perspective, and will scrutinize and possibly reject evidence that’s inconsistent with it.
“12 Angry Men” (1957, Orion-Nova Productions) depicts how biases toward a defendant and juror personalities drive the outcome of a trial.
