This article explores the role of emotion in the capital penalty‐phase
jury deliberations process. It is based on the qualitative analysis of data
from ninety video‐recorded four to seven person simulated jury deliberations
that examined the influence of race on death sentencing outcomes. The
analysis explores when and how emotions are expressed, integrated into the
jury's sentencing process, and deployed in penalty‐phase decision making.
The findings offer critical new insights into the role that emotion plays in
influencing these legal judgments by revealing how jurors strategically and
explicitly employ emotion in the course of deliberation, both to support
their own positions and neutralize or rebut the opposing positions of
others. The findings also shed light on the various ways that white male
capital jurors utilize a panoply of powerful emotion‐based tactics to sway
others to their position in a manner that often contributes to racially
biased outcomes.