Emmet Till. Valuation of testimonial evidence: impact of personal characteristics (racialisation and gender)

Research projects

Research Group:  Theory of Society and Criminal Liability

Main Researcher: Inês Ferreira Leite

Researchers: Nuno Poiares, Ricardo Tavares da Silva, Rita do Rosário

Project Status: Ongoing (2024-2028)

Description

This study will have three phases e three working methods.

On the first phase, investigators will make a state of the art concerning witness credibility and procedural criteria for assessing witness statements and their evidentiary impact on convictions (01/10/2023 – 15/12/2023).

On the second phase, crime simulations, mock trials and questionnaires (for judges) (January and February 2024).

An online anonymous questionnaire (google forms) for judges will be written and presented to a certain number of judges, it will be divulged through an online judges platform.

Two kinds of simulations will be conducted in January, in a total of between 10 and 20 single events:

1. a) Theft with allegations of mere recovery of stolen goods (racialized perpetrator/non racialized victim, inversely, same race perpetrator and victim; variations of race and gender);
2. b) Public scene of domestic violence in different gendered couple, with variations.

Two kinds of mock trials will be conducted in February, in a total of between 8 and 16 single trials:

1. a) Theft trial with variations in race/gender, victim/offender, witnesses (6 to 12 trials);
2. b) Domestic violence trial with variations in race/gender, victim/offender, witnesses (4 to 8 trials).

On the third and final phase, the results will be analyzed, reported, publicly presented (October 2024) and published on “Anatomia do Crime”, Criminology series, of December 2024.”

Objectives

This project aims to evaluate if witness statements credibility and evidentiary impact is influenced by gender and racialization of the witness. It also aims, secondarily, to serve as a learning tool to the students of the master and PhD programs within the subject of criminology.

Activities:

Articulation with Postgraduate Education