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20 American J. Crim. Just. 1 (1995-1996)

handle is hein.journals/acnjrlocm20 and id is 1 raw text is: VICTIM IMPACT EVIDENCE IN A CAPITAL TRIAL: ENCOURAGING VOTES FOR DEATH James Luginbuhl* North Carolina State University Michael Burkhead* N.C. Department of Correction ABSTRACT Subjects individually read a description of either a moderately aggravated or a severely aggravated murder and were informed that the defendant had already been convicted of first degree murder. Their task was to decide on the penalty of life imprisonment versus death. Subjects then read summaries of the prosecution and defense penalty arguments, after which they either read or did not read a statement describing the impact of the victim's death on the victim's family. Sig- nificantly more subjects exposed to the victim impact statement voted for death than those not exposed to the statement. Victim impact evidence led to in- creased numbers of subjects voting for death for both crimes, and victim impact evidence had its strongest effects on individuals who already favored the death penalty. INTRODUCTION States with the death penalty have a bifurcated (two-stage) capital trial. In the first stage, the guilt stage, the jury performs the traditional function of listening to the evidence and deciding on the guilt or inno- cence of the defendant. If the jury convicts the defendant of a capital offense,1 the trial moves to the second, or penalty stage, in which the jury hears additional evidence and decides on the penalty. This addi- * James Luginbuhl, Department of Psychology, Box 7801, N. C. State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801, (e-mail: jimlug@poe.coe.ncsu.edu); Michael Burkhead, Re- search and Evaluation Manager, N. C. Department of Correction, 214 W. Jones St., Ra- leigh, NC 27626. Appreciation is extended to Sara Wrenn who conducted some of the experimental sessions, and to Rich Rosen for his helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Correspondence regarding this article should be directed to the first author. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Vol. 20 No. 1, 1995 © 1995 Southern Criminal Justice Association