ABSTRACT
This chapter describes that verdicts are indeed influenced by the reasonable doubt element of the requirements-of-proof instruction. It suggests by legal scholars and researchers that these instructions have little effect on juror's verdicts. The chapter investigates the relationship between the timing of a judge's instructions and mock juror verdicts for a criminal case. It determines whether or not a prototypical, ecologically valid instruction on the requirements of proof influences juror's decisions and whether the timing of that instruction mediates its efficacy. The chapter examines whether subjects who were already instructed on the requirements of proof evaluated the evidence differently from those who had not yet been instructed. In sum, the mere timing of instructions had an impact on juror's final judgments. Results for the verdict-confidence measure tended to support the major hypothesis that instructions on the requirements of proof would reduce subject's tendencies to convict only when delivered prior to the introduction of testimony.
