Browsing by Author "Robson, Jeremy"
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Item Metadata only Accent detection in earwitness identification(2018-08-03) Robson, Jeremy; Braber, N.; Smith, H.M.J.; Wright, D.; Hardy, A.Item Open Access Assessing the Specificity and Accuracy of Accent Judgments by Lay Listeners(Sage, 2022-06-19) Braber, Natalie; Smith, Harriet; Wright, David; Hardy, Alexander; Robson, JeremyHistorically, there has been less research carried out on earwitness than eyewitness testimony. However, in some cases, earwitness evidence might play an important role in securing a conviction. This paper focuses on accent which is a central characteristic of voices in a forensic linguistic context. The paper focuses on two experiments (Experiment 1, n = 41; Experiment 2, n = 57) carried out with participants from a wide range of various locations around the United Kingdom to rate the accuracy and confidence in recognizing accents from voices from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland as well as looking at specificity of answers given and how this varies for these regions. Our findings show that accuracy is variable and that participants are more likely to be accurate when using vaguer descriptions (such as “Scottish”) than being more specific. Furthermore, although participants lack the meta-linguistic ability to describe the features of accents, they are able to name particular words and pronunciations which helped them make their decision.Item Metadata only Caging the green-eyed monster – restrictions on the use of sexual infidelity as a defence to murder(Nottingham Law Journal, 2012) Robson, Jeremy; Edwards, HelenThis case note discusses the Court of Appeal's interpretation of the defence of 'Loss of Control' in the case of Clinton, Parker and others.Item Open Access Can we have faith jurors listen without prejudice? Likely sources of inaccuracy in voice comparison exercises.(Sweet and Maxwell, 2019) Robson, Jeremy; Smith, H.This paper reviews the current law in respect of whether juries may permitted to listen to recordings of a suspect's voice with a view to undertaking an identification. It discusses the factors which impact upon the accuracy of the process and suggests procedural amendments to reduce the risk of misidentification taking place.Item Metadata only Developing a procedure for eliciting accurate, detailed, and consistent forensic voice descriptions from lay witnesses.(2018-08-29) Robson, Jeremy; Smith, H.M.J.; Kelly, S.; Braber, N.; Wright, D.Item Open Access Do Pride and Prejudice stand in the way of persuasion?:Embracing other disciplines for the advancement of advocacy teaching(2013-03) Robson, Jeremy; Edwards, HelenThis paper considers the importance of advocacy teachers adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to the teaching of advocacy and suggests how this can be acieved.Item Metadata only EU wildlife laws should be celebrated – and retained – not treated as red tape(The Conversation, 2017-03-30) Robson, JeremyThis article discusses the approach to wildlife protection post-BrexitItem Open Access Evaluating earwitness identification procedures: adapting pre-parade instructions and parade procedure(Taylor and Francis, 2022-10-06) Smith, Harriet; Roeser, Jens; Pautz, Nikolas; Davis, Josh P; Robson, Jeremy; Wright, David; Braber, Natalie; Stacey, Paula C.Voice identification parades can be unreliable, as earwitness responses are error-prone. In this paper we tested performance across serial and sequential procedures, and varied pre-parade instructions, with the aim of reducing errors. The participants heard a target voice and later attempted to identify it from a parade. In Experiment 1 they were either warned that the target may or may not be present (standard warning) or encouraged to consider responding “not present” because of the associated risk of a wrongful conviction (strong warning). Strong warnings prompted a conservative criterion shift, with participants less likely to make a positive identification regardless of whether the target was present. In contrast to previous findings, we found no statistically reliable difference in accuracy between serial and sequential parades. Experiment 2 ruled out a potential confound in Experiment 1. Taken together, our results suggest that adapting pre-parade instructions provides a simple way of reducing the risk of false identificationsItem Embargo A fair hearing? The use of voice identification parades in criminal investigations in England and Wales(Sweet and Maxwell, 2017-01) Robson, JeremyThis article reviews the current state of the law in relation to using voice identification parades to test the evidence of a witness who purports to recognise a witness by voice alone. Such procedures exist but are not used consistently by police forces, with some forces having decided as a matter of policy not to use them. Although such procedures are challenging and are more difficult that video identification procedures, the failure to conduct such a parade is a matter which should be properly taken into account in assessing the admissibility of a witness’s evidence.Item Open Access Forensic voice discrimination: The effect of speech type and background noise on performance(Wiley, 2018-10-20) Stacey, P.; Dunn, A.; Smith, H.; Robson, Jeremy; Baguley, T.In forensic settings, lay (non-expert) listeners may be required to compare voice samples for identity. In two experiments we investigated the effect of background noise and variations in speaking style on performance. In each trial, participants heard two recordings, responded whether the voices belonged to the same person, and provided a confidence rating. In Experiment 1, the first recording featured read speech, while the second featured read or spontaneous speech. Both recordings were presented in quiet, or with background noise. Accuracy was highest when recordings featured the same speaking style. In Experiment 2, background noise either occurred in the first or second recording. Accuracy was higher when it occurred in the second. The overall results reveal that both speaking style and background noise can disrupt accuracy. Whilst there is a relationship between confidence and accuracy in all conditions, it is variable. The forensic implications of these findings are discussed.Item Open Access How to commit the perfect crime Designing teaching materials which develop storytelling abilities in trainee advocates(2013-07) Robson, Jeremy; Edwards, HelenStorytelling is recognized as being central to the skills that an advocate needs to develop. This presentation explores how this can be developed through the design of teaching materials which force students into addressing this issue.Item Open Access Identification by Voice (1)(Lexis Nexis, 2023-12-12) Robson, Jeremy; Smith, HarrietItem Metadata only “I’ve never met a barrister that sounded like I do”: accents, barristers and Bourdieusian capital(Taylor and Francis, 2024-05-06) Braber, Natalie; Ching, Jane; Jarman, Jane; Robson, Jeremy; Stevens, OliviaUse of Received Pronunciation (RP) is a proxy for particular kinds of elite social capital, but it is also a professional norm and part of the Bourdieusian habitus of the Bar. This article uses the first empirical study of accent discrimination in relation to barristers in England and Wales as a basis for a theoretical consideration of the interaction between barristers and others: clients, jurors, judges and other barristers. In particular it evaluates ways in which understandings about accent, as a facet of social or cultural capital, impact on individual career decisions. It concludes that while considerable progress has been made on diversity of the profession, targeted action by the regulator and the profession is required to address perceptions of discrimination (and manifestations of discrimination itself) in a profession to whose activities speech is foundational.Item Open Access The Judge as Bricoleur: Bricolage in decision-making in the criminal justice system(De Montfort University, 2022-04) Robson, JeremyIn this work I examine the approach of the courts to cases which depart from expected and anticipated norms. Using four case studies from areas where courts have had to respond to situations with which it may be unfamiliar, I explain how, if not properly guided, the courts risk relying on assumptions and beliefs which potentially jeopardise the rationality of the decision which is made. This question is considered in the particular contexts of (i) women who wear the Niqab in court; (ii) voice identification evidence; (iii) the offence of coercive control; and (iv) male victims of sexual assault. In my work, I illustrate how the unfamiliarity of decision-makers with each of these topics, when combined with the sociological and psychological factors which arise in these cases, creates the risk that decisions are being made which are not ‘rational’. In part, this is due to the structuralist nature of decision-making, or ‘bricolage.’ In my expository statement I will explain how a bricolage methodology enables analysis of this question. The four areas I have discussed are exemplars of four discrete areas which are outside the normal experience of decision-makers in criminal trials and serve as exemplars of how a bricolage approach is used to solve such problems and the shortcomings of this approach.Item Open Access Lend Me Your Ears: An Analysis Of How Voice Identification Evidence Is Treated In Four Neighbouring Criminal Justice Systems(Sage, 2018-08-02) Robson, JeremyThis article reviews the approaches taken by the courts to the admissibility of voice identification evidence in four jurisdictions; England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Each jurisdiction addresses the question in a different way and each approach is open to criticism. This paper will argue that a contextualised approach to the problem would allow for improvements which would enhance the quality of the evidence and the adjudicative process.Item Embargo The Niqaab and the Myth of Pinocchio's Nose: Is the Niqaab an Impediment to Fact Finding in an Adversarial Trial? An Analysis of R v D(Oxford University Press, 2016-05-06) Robson, JeremyAbstract: This article considers the current state of the law in respect of Muslim women who wish to wear the Niqaab while appearing in court. It reviews the approach of the courts in England and Wales to this issue cul-minating in the decision of R v D in September 2013 and compares this to the approach of other common law jurisdictions. The article considers whether the popular approach of placing the need to see the 'demeanour' of a witness above the right of that witness to manifest her religion is properly founded. The decision in R v D is discussed against the framework of article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights and concludes that the requirement that it was neither necessary nor proportionate to place a precondition on the defendant in R v D that she removed her veil if she wished to testify in her own defence.Item Metadata only Not deep just average: Improving the usability of lay-listener voice descriptions(2018-08-03) Smith, H.; Braber, N.; Robson, Jeremy; Wright, D.; Kelly, S.Earwitness testimony from lay listeners can provide vital evidence in a criminal investigation. However, some research suggests that voice descriptions can be vague. This paper presents the findings of three experiments investigating lay-listener voice descriptions, with a view to developing a procedure for eliciting accurate and admissible earwitness testimony. Experiment 1 examined free voice descriptions provided by native English-speaking lay listeners (N=20). As predicted, lay-listeners frequently used vague, or subjective voice descriptions. Phonetic features were inconsistently described across voices, possibly related to a lack of confidence in describing (or perceiving) the same phonetic feature across different voices. Experiment 2 sought to improve the accuracy, consistence and detail of these voice descriptions. Participants (N=30) were asked additional questions about the pitch and tempo of each voice. Responses were given either as free descriptions, or using a rating scale. Results show that listeners in both conditions produced mostly comparable descriptions of these specific features, but varied when describing other voice features. Experiment 3 focused on the memory retention of vocal information from unfamiliar voices. Respondents listened to a single, unfamiliar voice. Following a simple word-based task they used a pilot protocol to record a description of the target voice. Preliminary results show that the protocol increases the amount of objective descriptors, and reduces the number of subjective descriptors as well as the time taken to provide a voice description. These results will contribute toward the design of an earwitness protocol to be piloted in the East Midlands.Item Embargo Perceptions of 'accent prestige'(Sweet and Maxwell, 2023-01-17) Robson, Jeremy; Braber, NatalieWith speech at the core of what Barristers do, how much is accent prestige persist among the public and the bar? Is this blocking the best talent?Item Open Access The pragmatic functions of ‘respect’ in lawyers’ courtroom discourse: a case study of Brexit hearings(2021-11-17) Robson, Jeremy; Murray - Edwards, Helen; Braber, Natalie; Wright, DavidThis paper is a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the use of the word respect by the main advocates in the High Court and Supreme Court hearings of R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (the ‘Brexit case’). Courtroom discourse has received substantial research attention in pragmatics, and previous work has largely focused on notions of face and im/politeness exhibited in power-asymmetric encounters between lawyers and witnesses in hostile cross-examination. In contrast, this paper focuses on lawyer-lawyer and lawyer-judge interaction in appellate hearings and explores the ways in which advocates negotiate the task of making face-threats that are inherent to the discourse situation, while maintaining the levels of professional courtesy demanded by the institution. The word respect has a particular role in managing this balance, and has attached to it well-established implicit, indexical and professional meanings within the judiciary. The corpus analysis here shows that, although the advocates in question use respect in seemingly formulaic and ritualised ways, it is used to achieve multiple facework and interactional goals. Throughout the analysis we see advocates use respect when (dis)agreeing with judges, challenging opposing counsel and making recommendations to the court.Item Open Access Prosecuting Coercive Control: Reforming Storytelling in the Courtroom(Sweet and Maxwell, 2020-12) Robson, Jeremy; Bettinson, VanessaThe criminalisation of coercive control is a welcome development in ending violence against women. It has created an offence aimed at tackling the abuse of power and control within relationships. Despite this, however, there are indications that there is a high attrition rate in bringing prosecutions, notwithstanding the recognition by prosecuting authorities of the need to bring “evidence-led” prosecutions. In this paper we review the ways in which having an offence which is proved via a narrative account of a personal relationship can run into difficulties when faced with rules of evidence which have evolved in a justice system more used to dealing with incident-based offences. Although in many cases judicial discretion allows flexibility to overcome these problems, we argue that the process would be made easier by explicit recognition of the approach to be taken in the rules of evidence.