Dna Evidence: Judge and Jury Challenges: Judge and Jury Interpretations, Perceptions, and Understanding of Dna Evidence

The rapid advancement of DNA techniques has turned courtrooms into scientific forums. The principal aim of this dissertation, from a Canadian perspective, was to evalute how judges and jurors interpret, perceive, and understand DNA evidence. In order to address this research question, a multi-method design was adopted consisting of the following: three separate focus groups (consisting of jury eligible persons, defence lawyers, and Crown prosecutors); seven in-depth interviews with Court of Queen's Bench Justices; 500 jury eligible surveys; and a mock scripted murder trial. The data suggests that jurors assign greater weight to DNA evidence than they do other types of evidence. Several recommendations unfolded as a result of this research: the encouragement for jurors to take notes, which includes providing jurors with note books; encouragement by judges to allow written questions from jurors; recognition of individual learning styles including providing sworn jurors with a learning style survey; making the courtroom a more comfortable learning environment; and the allowance for real jury research in Canada.