Real Jurors' Attention to the "Off Stage" of Trials

In this article Rose, et al. examine the content of discussions made by jurors in civil cases. They look in these deliberations for examples of jurors looking to "off stage" behaviors, defined as anything in a courtroom or courthouse that takes place, but is not meant to be the jury's immediate focus at the given time, for reinforcement or contradiction of statements made in cases.

I actually was quite surprised that similar research hasn't been done before. As mentioned in the article there are manuals about how parties should act in order to best present themselves to juries. This manual covers situations both in and out of the courtroom, and both in and out of the spotlight. This clearly shows that there is a market for research in this field. Yet, no real empirical evidence exists to cooroborate this manual that many professionals apparently use.

That being said, I think the information presented was very interesting, however inconclusive. They say that most cases' deliberations were not focused on the off stage content, however, the amount of off stage content presentecd to juries is significantly less than the amount of material they receive in the courtroom to examine. There is also the idea that these off stage performances may prejudice a jury and skew their understanding of the way things may be unfolding as they happen in a courtroom. Just some more food for thought I guess.