Question

You are a defense attorney defending a client against a murder charge. Your client is the former boyfriend of the victim and it has been established by several witnesses that the breakup was not a pleasant one. Your client was identified as a suspect from the very beginning. During the trial, the prosecution presented a witness who claimed to overhear your client praying for forgiveness in his holding cell. The prosecution also presented the murder weapon, which was a softball bat with your client’s fingerprint on the handle. Your client was convicted. Question: You attempted to convince the jury that the presence of the fingerprints did not mean anything – it was his bat and he had used it in a softball game recently. You argued that the detectives investigating the murder suspected your client right away because he was the victim’s ex-boyfriend and they automatically interpreted any evidence in a way that agreed with their suspicion. This is an example of:

Answer 1

This would be an example of confirmation bias, which is when a person in any role interprets new evidence in light of what they already believe.

Since the facts presented indicate that the police believed from the outset that the ex-boyfriend committed the crime, any new information would likely only serve to support that assertion.

Answer 2

This would be an example of bias, or having pre-determined whether on is guilty or not