Jeremy Robson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeremy Robson

Language and Speech

Historically, there has been less research carried out on earwitness than eyewitness testimony. H... more Historically, 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...

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in the C... more This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in the Criminal Law Review following peer review. The definitive published version will be available online on Westlaw UK.The 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

Storytelling is recognized as being central to the skills that an advocate needs to develop. This... more Storytelling 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

This article discusses the approach to wildlife protection post-Brexi

Regina v Clinton; Regina v Parker; Regina v Evans [2012] EWCA Crim 2 (Lord Judge, LCJ, Henriques ... more Regina v Clinton; Regina v Parker; Regina v Evans [2012] EWCA Crim 2 (Lord Judge, LCJ, Henriques and Gloster DBE, LLJ) INTRODUCTION The circumstances in which an individual can claim a "loss of control" so as to mitigate their culpability when charged with an offence of murder have long been controversial. The partial defence of provocation had caused the development of a mass of contradictory case law. Parliament has tried to introduce some certainty through the introduction of the defence of "loss of control" as expressed in sections 54 and 55 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. This has replaced the defence of provocation for offences committed after 4 October 2010. Under the new legislation: Where a person ("D") kills or is party to the killing of another ("V"), D is not to be convicted of murder if (a) D's acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing resulted from D's loss of self control, (b) The loss of control ...

Cicero, On Oratory and Orators 3 "How does Rumpole carry on in court? Answer. Rumpole woos, Rumpo... more Cicero, On Oratory and Orators 3 "How does Rumpole carry on in court? Answer. Rumpole woos, Rumpole insinuates, Rumpole winds his loving fingers round the jury box, or lies on his back purring "If his lordship pleases."

Earwitness testimony from lay listeners can provide vital evidence in a criminal investigation. H... more 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

This article reviews the current state of the law in relation to the use of voice identification ... more This article reviews the current state of the law in relation to the use of 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 than 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.

R scripts with brms code and data.

<p>Voice identification parades can be unreliable, as earwitness responses are error-prone.... more <p>Voice identification parades can be unreliable, as earwitness responses are error-prone. Here we vary pre-parade instructions, testing performance across serial and sequential procedures to examine ways of reducing errors. The participants listened to a target voice and later attempted to identify it from a parade. 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). Overall accuracy was low. Performance varied according to instructions and procedure. False alarms were lower on target-absent serial parades following the strong compared to the standard warning. However, the strong warning was associated with higher false alarms on target-absent sequential parades. We discuss the cognitive processes that might drive this effect. Our novel analyses shed light on these results, highlighting the challenges of directly comparing procedures, and revealing position-related effects.</p>

Journal of Pragmatics, 2022

This paper is a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the use of the word respect by the main adv... more This 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

Memory, 2019

Unfamiliar voice identification is error-prone. Whilst the investigation of system variables may ... more Unfamiliar voice identification is error-prone. Whilst the investigation of system variables may indicate ways of boosting earwitness performance, this is an under-researched area. Two experiments were conducted to investigate how methods of presenting voices during a parade affect accuracy and self-rated confidence. In each experiment participants listened to a target voice, and were later asked to identify that voice from a nine-person target present or target absent parade. In Experiment 1, accuracy did not vary across parades comprising 15 or 30 s sample durations. Overall, when the target was present, participants correctly identified the target voice with 39% accuracy. However, when the target was absent, participants correctly rejected the parade 6% of the time. There was no relationship between accuracy and confidence. In Experiment 2, performance with a serial procedure, in which participants responded after hearing all nine voices, was compared with a sequential procedure, in which participants made a decision after listening to each voice. Overall accuracy was higher with the sequential procedure. These results highlight the importance of system variable research in voice identification. Different methods of presenting voices have the potential to support higher levels of accuracy than the procedure currently recommended in England and Wales.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2018

In forensic settings, lay (nonexpert) listeners may be required to compare voice samples for iden... more In forensic settings, lay (nonexpert) 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 and 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. Although there is a relationship between confidence and accuracy in all conditions, it is variable. The forensic implications of these findings are discussed.

The Journal of Criminal Law, 2021

Discussion around sexual offending traditionally focuses on the notion of male offenders and fema... more Discussion around sexual offending traditionally focuses on the notion of male offenders and female victims. In this article, we argue that there is clear evidence that females commit offences and that males are often the victims of these offences. We discuss the evidence for this and the impact it has on the victims of these offences. We argue that the processes which have informed policy in this area have dismissed this class of offending and as a result the Sexual Offences Act and associated policies do not provide a clear enough framework for the prosecution of these offenders. We present some suggestions for how this lacuna could be addressed.

The International Journal of Evidence & Proof, 2018

This article reviews the approaches taken by the courts to the admissibility of voice identificat... more This 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.

Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 2016