Strength Versus Sensitivity: The Impact of Attorney Gender on Juror Perceptions and Trial Outcomes in a Rape Case

We examined the impact of attorney gender on perceptions of a criminal rape trial. Community members ( N = 208) read a trial summary describing a rape scenario in which the gender of the prosecuting and defense attorney were manipulated. The results revealed indirect effects of prosecuting and defense attorney gender on verdict through perceptions of characteristics related to attorney competency. Qualitative analyses further showed that the terms “strength” and “powerful” were central to juror perceptions of male attorneys, whereas the terms “sensitive” and “sympathy” were central when the attorneys were female.

The rape trial and sexual history evidence: R v A and the (un)worthy complainant

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‘Please make your verdict speak the truth’: Insights from an Appraisal analysis of the closing arguments from a rape trial

It is common knowledge that language use inside the courtroom is an effective tool of persuasion; thus, even in cases where evidence is unreliable, men and women have found themselves facing charges, standing trial and, in the worst case scenario, wrongfully convicted of a crime. In this paper I examine one such case, in which a young American finds himself accused and, later, imprisoned for the rape of a minor, despite evidence to suggest otherwise. The case is taken from a database set up by The Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation comprising a team of volunteers working towards proving the innocence of over 200 individuals currently serving time for a crime that they insist they did not commit. More specifically, my analytical focus is on the closing arguments of the selected case for the purposes of acquiring insights into how the attorneys for each side make particular language choices in a final attempt to maximise the credibility of their version of events. To reveal how the defendant and the victim are portrayed by each of the lawyers and, moreover, whose feelings and/or character traits are brought to the forefront, an Appraisal analysis is carried out on the dataset.

Women’s behavior as implied consent: Male “reasonableness” in Australian rape law

Defendants in rape trials rely on narratives of “implied consent,” situating women’s ordinary behavior as having indicated consent. Such narratives ignore women’s experiences, instead describing a male perpetrator’s subjective interpretation or inference of the woman’s actions. Implied consent narratives should have been eliminated by law reform introducing affirmative consent that redirected attention to steps that the perpetrator took to ensure the other party was consenting. Drawing from an Australian study, this article uses rape trial excerpts from the state of Victoria to argue that implied consent narratives endure in rape trials and form the key factor shaping a reasonable belief defense. Rape law allows men to interpret women’s behavior without restriction, providing evidence of the persisting influence of misogynistic views of women in law and legal practice. This article contributes to feminist jurisprudential and theoretical efforts to generate understandings of the ways rigid gender norms are enacted and performed in rape trials.

Language and Sexual Violence in the Legal System

This chapter reviews research on linguistic representations of sexual violence in the media and the legal system, illustrating how such representations can be informed by broader ideologies of gender and sexuality. In reviewing this literature, the chapter demonstrates, in particular, how discourses of normative heterosexuality help to give meaning to representations of sexual violence. The text then turns to a case study of the 2013 Steubenville (Ohio, U.S.A.) rape trial in order to show how the social media evidence in this case, specifically the photographic evidence, was able to unsettle these discourses in ways that the more typical “he said/she said” evidence of sexual assault trials may have had (more) difficulty doing.

Accessing Court Files as a Feminist Endeavour: Reflections on Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa-Te Rino: A Two-Stranded Rope

In this piece, we reflect on the significance of accessing court records for feminist endeavours. We discuss two examples that illustrate the value of accessing and critiquing court processes. Feminist judgment writing, as a feminist endeavour, demonstrates the significance of hearing women’s stories as well as the importance of nuanced factual analysis that takes account of the lived experiences of women. Access to the court file in one of the rewritten judgments exposed missing relevant facts in the appellate decision, and demonstrates how the appellant’s story was never fully reflected in the judgment or verdict. In our rape trial research, access to court records makes visible the complainant’s evidence and the response of the judge to her as a person. It also allows inquiry as to how the rules of evidence enacted for the protection of the complainant, such as non-disclosure of their occupation, are actually working in practice. En este artículo, reflexionamos sobre el significado de acceder a archivos judiciales para objetivos feministas. Comentamos dos ejemplos que ilustran el valor de acceder a esos archivos y de criticar procesos judiciales. La redacción feminista de decisiones judiciales demuestra la importancia de escuchar los relatos de las mujeres, así como del análisis matizado de hechos que toma en consideración el relato de la experiencia vivida por las mujeres. En uno de los fallos reescritos, el acceso al archivo judicial puso de manifiesto hechos relevantes ausentes en la decisión en apelación, y cómo el relato de la recurrente nunca llegó a reflejarse del todo en la sentencia. En nuestra investigación sobre juicios por violación, el acceso a los archivos hace visibles las pruebas de la denunciante y la respuesta que, como persona, le dio el juez. También permite cuestionar cómo se lleva a la práctica el reglamento probatorio dictado para proteger a la denunciante, como la no revelación de su profesión.