RT Article
T1 An Examination of the Influence of Strength of Evidence Variables in the Prosecution’s Decision to Dismiss Driving While Intoxicated Cases
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 37
IS 4
SP 562
OP 579
A1 McCoy, Tana
A2 Salinas, Patti Ross
A2 Walker, Jeffrey T.
A2 Hignite, Lance
LA English
YR 2012
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764200004
AB The majority of research examining prosecutorial discretion has focused on legal factors such as the seriousness of the offense or the extra-legal characteristics of the accused including race/ethnicity and gender. The amount of variance explained by court researchers, however, remains quite low. The present study extends previous research examining the primary determinants of prosecutor’s decision to dismiss or fully prosecute focusing on driving while intoxicated cases. We focus on the predictive contribution of the strength of evidence relative to legal and extra-legal variables. The data consist of 2,358 driving while intoxicated cases filed in Harris County, Texas during the first 8 months of 1999. The findings strongly support the inclusion of strength of evidence variables in court research and further suggest their past omission may have attributed significance to spurious relationships.
K1 Gender bias
K1 Strength of evidence
K1 Sentencing research
K1 Prosecutorial bias
DO 10.1007/s12103-011-9141-3