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Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the program. In

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this episode, we're going to continue on with the declaration

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of Brian Edelman. Ada County community members did not suffer

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severe levels of emotional distress during the search for the killer.

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Only thirty one percent of prospective jurors reported that they

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or someone they know experienced higher levels of stress, anxiety,

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or fear during the manhunt, twenty five percentage points lower

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than in Leayta County. In conclusion, given the extent and

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nature of the pre trial publicity in Leayta County, coupled

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with its negative impact on the jury pool, it's my

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opinion that there is a reasonable likelihood that the defendant's

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constitutional rights to a fair trial have been undermined. As such,

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it's my opinion that remedial measures, including a change of venue,

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are appropriate to ensure a fair and impartial trial. Two

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qualifications education and experience. A copy of my curriculum can

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be found in Appendix A of this declaration. Upon completion

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of my undergod graduate education, I received an MA and

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PhD in social psychology from the University of Nevada Areno

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and an LLM from the University of Kent. In the

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United Kingdom. My graduate studies have provided me with the

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broad foundation in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, as

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well as statistics. The Social psychology program at the University

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of Nevada is unique in that it's one of the

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few in the country that has an emphasis on application

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of social psychological theory to the legal arena. During my studies,

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I specialized in jury related issues and examined how attitudes, race, stereotypes,

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pre trial publicity, and other factors influenced jur and jury

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decision making. In this regard, I took coursework addressing topics

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associated with change of venue motions, the impact of pre

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trial publicity on juror's ability to be fair and impartial,

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and the steps necessary to conduct a change of venue analysis.

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The university's association with the National Judicial College and NAM

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and other government agencies also afforded me the opportunity to

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conduct research with the public defender, district Attorney, court Services,

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the judiciary, and other institutions in Washaue County, Nevada. Research

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experience while at the University of Nevada a Reno, I

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worked as a research assistant and project manager at the

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Grant Sawyer Center for Justice studies where I assisted with

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several national surveys, including one that examined the judiciary's understanding

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and application of the Dobert standard. I also explored how

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jurors minimize what they have read, seen, or heard about

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high profile cases during vordere In addition, I oversaw a

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study in Washoe County's pre trial release program and assisted

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with the development of training programs for foreign justices, court administrators, prosecutors,

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and defense attorneys who were brought to the United States

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by the Department of State. Further, I have conducted and

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published research on the impact of illegitimate factors on jur

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decision making. This research included developing and testing a model

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that attempted to explain how factors such as race and

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empathy influence pre and post deliberation sentencing decisions in capital cases.

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My research as a jury decision making in capital cases

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was later published as a book. Since completing my studies,

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I have also published on the impact of graphic images

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on jurors and on methodological issues associated with online survey

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research jury research experience. I began working as a trial

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consultant in nineteen ninety eight and co founded Trial Innovations

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in twenty ten. Over the years, I've worked on hundreds

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of criminal and civil cases across the country. As a

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trial consultant. I have conducted mock trials, focus groups, surveys,

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post trial interviews, and other research exercises. I've consulted in

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the courtroom and assisted with jury selection on more than

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one hundred cases. I have also served as a presenter

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at local bar associations, law firms, national meetings and conferences.

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In addition, I have been invited to conduct mcl EQ

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course related to jury selection by the Public Defender, Alternate Defender,

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and District Attorney in California, Nevada, and New Mexico. I

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have also served as a guest lecturer at the University

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of Santa Cruz, Saint Mary's College, and Stanford Law School

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Venue Experience. As a graduate student, I was trained by

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doctor Ronald Dillahay and doctor Edward Bronson, two of the

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leading experts in the country on venue and pre trial publicity.

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Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with

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doctor Bronson on a number of change of venue studies.

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I've worked on change of venue issues in several different capacities.

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As a researcher, I have coded trial transcripts and high

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profile cases to evaluate how jurors minimize their bias and

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exposure to pre trial publicity during vordeer and challenges this

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phenomenon poses for judges and attorneys. In addition, I examined

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the impact of television pre trial publicity on pre judgment

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of guilt. I have also presented as a panelist on

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change of venue issues at the American Society of Trial

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Consultants Annual Conference and been a co author on the

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chapter in the California Criminal Law Procedure and Practice on

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Change of Venue. Since twenty eleven, I have conducted content

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analysis of media coverage on a host of topics and

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have designed more than fifty community attitude surveys Over the years.

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I've been retained as an expert to conduct and evaluate

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change of venue studies and also to recommend remedial measures

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for addressing exposure to pre child publicity outside of a

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change of venue expert witness experience. I've been retained as

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an expert witness on matters including freedom of religion in China,

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political asylum hearing, eyewitness identification, and change of venue. I've

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testified as an expert witness in person or by declaration

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in California, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,

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West Virginia, and Washington. In state and federal court, in

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the majority of cases that I have been retained to

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conduct a change of venue study, I have recommended against

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a change of venue. Three. The influence of attitudes on cognition.

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There is a substantial body of literature documenting the impact

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of attitudes on information processing. Attitudes have been shown to

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have an impact on selective attention, the evaluation of new information, memory, recall,

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and behavior. This research provides insight into how media coverage

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may lead to jurorbias. Pre trial publicity can have a

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prejudicial effect on jurors though its impact on the formation

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of attitudes and beliefs that they bring into the courtroom.

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Attitudes are not isolated entities, but are often linked to

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other memories, experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. These links can create

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large networks of attitudes which are resistant to change. The

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links between attitudes strengthened with repeated activation. As these links strengthen,

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the probability increases that the attitudes and underlying beliefs will

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be consistent with one another and brought to awareness simultaneously.

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Attitudes that are strongly linked to one another are more

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easily accessible in memory and more likely to be automatically

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activated with exposure to the attitude object. Attitudes can be

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activated automatically without conscience intentional processing. This is more likely

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to occur when an attitude has been repeatedly activated in

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the past. When media coverage surrounding a case is broad, extensive,

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and redundant, strong links between relevant attitudes and beliefs begin

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to form. If the pre trial publicity creates links between

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case details, attitudes, and beliefs over the course of a trial,

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these attitudes are likely to be automatically activated at a

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subconscious level. As described below. This network of linked attitudes

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can have an impact on juror's attention to an evaluation

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of the evidence and arguments presented in court. As the

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network of linked attitudes grows and strengthens, specific attitudes become

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resistant to change because change requires revisions to other attitudes

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and beliefs within the network. Resistance to revising well established

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attitudes has been shown to lead to biased information processing.

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When attitudes are strong, there is a tendency to favor

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arguments that information in support of those attitudes over arguments

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that may disprove them. The acceptance of a counter argument

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can create cognitive dissonance. In an effort to avoid cognitive dissonance,

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information that supports attitudes may be selectively attended to, and

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counter arguments may be distorted or dismissed. Attitudes can also

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have an impact on attention and recall. Research is shown

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that information that supports a pre existing attitude is easier

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to learn, more accurately retained, and easier to recall. The

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links formed between attitude andally supporting information and pre existing

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attitudes are stronger than those formed between counter arguments and

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pre existing attitudes. As a result, the latter is more

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difficult to retrieve from memory. Further, there is a tendency

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to produce new beliefs which support pre existing attitudes and

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suppress those that run counter to such attitudes. In some

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when a venue is exposed to prejudicial media coverage surrounding

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a crime, there is a risk that a potential juror

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will develop a large network of linked attitudes and beliefs

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relating to the victim, the defendant, and the crime. These

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linked attitudes include opinions about the guilt of the defendant,

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appropriate sentence, and evaluations of the evidence presented through the media.

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When the links between attitudes are strong, they can be

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activated at a subconscious level and have an impact on

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jurors evaluation of the evidence and arguments presented at trial.

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Attitude andal LEAs supporting arguments will be more closely attended to,

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evaluated as persuasive, integrated into the existing network of attitudes

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and beliefs, and made easily accessible during deliberations. In contrast,

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counter arguments and evidence conflicting with well established attitudes may

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create cognitive dissonance. As a result, jurors will either ignore

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this evidence or make cognitive efforts to refute it. This

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evidence will not establish strong links to pre existing attitudes

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and will not be easily accessible during deliberations when a

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venue has been saturated with pre trial publicity. These psychological

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process can put the defendant at a significant disadvantage, undermine

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the presumption of innocence, and diminish the prosecution's burden of proof.

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The prejudicial impact of pre existing attitudes is accentuated by

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the fact that the media coverage underlying them is often

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biased in favor of the prosecution. Furthermore, news content is

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encoded under very different circumstances from those found in the

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courtroom because rules of evidence that are strictly enforced at

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trial do not apply. As such, the persuasive impact of

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information presented through the news media becomes more significant and

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ingrained in the juror's mind than the evidence presented at trial.

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All right, we're going to wrap up this episode here

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and in the next episode we're going to pick up

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with part four, the prejudicial impact of pre trial publicity.

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All of the links that go with this episode can

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be found in the description box.