The Nation - News from March 28, 1988

Even if they try, jurors usually are not able to follow a judge’s instructions to disregard inadmissible testimony introduced in trials, said an Illinois researcher who studied illegal-search cases. The Northwestern University study examined how jurors reach decisions about whether to award damages to people who sue police over alleged illegal searches, said Jonathan D. Casper, a professor of political science. Jurors who learned that a search had turned up wrongdoing appeared unable to disregard that information, even when a judge ordered them to do so. Punitive damage awards were made only 52% of the time in that kind of case, compared to more than 65% when the search’s outcome was innocent or unknown.