Dateline: September, 2008, Issue 3
**previous research updates can be found in the Jury Research Kollectionn at www.kkcomcon.com
Are jurors fairer toward Hispanic defendants with Hispanic or non-Hispanic attorneys?
Hispanic defendants can be represented by attorneys of the same or a different race.
Espinoza (2005) studied jurors' treatment of Mexican American defendants when they were represented by either a Mexican American or a European American attorney.
In Espinoza's research, juror bias against a Mexican American defendant occurred only when the defendant was of a low socio-economic status and the defendant was represented by a Mexican American attorney. Jurors exhibited no bias against Mexican American defendants of middle (or higher) socio-economic status or when they were represented by European American attorneys.
Source: Espinoza, R. K. E. (2005). The effects of defendant race and SES, and defense attorney race on juror decision making: An aversive racism explanation for prejudice against Mexican Americans. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 66(5-B), p. 2875.
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