Testimony Concerning Possible Jury Bias in a Black Panther Murder Trial¹

Abstract

This paper reports the application of basic social psychological data to the problem of jury selection procedures in a murder trial. Professional testimony in pretrial proceedings was addressed to potential juror bias arising from the fact that the defendant was ( a ) black, ( b ) poor, ( c ) a Black Panther, and ( d ) on trial for murder. Some observations regarding the impact of the testimony are made and some future research avenues are discussed.