Mock juror decisions regarding an undocumented immigrant: Similarity of defendant-juror ethnicity matters

Abstract

Abstract Hispanic and White undergraduates (N = 238) read an online scenario depicting a Hispanic defendant on trial; defendant documentation status (undocumented, natural-born citizen) and defendant background (more sympathetic, less sympathetic) were varied. White participants saw the Hispanic defendant as generally more likely to commit a crime than Hispanic participants. White participants also saw the undocumented defendant as most likely to be guilty, while Hispanic participants saw the undocumented defendant as least likely to be guilty. These results suggest that defendant-juror similarity has an impact on juror decisions, even when the defendant is undocumented, a finding important for those selecting jurors.