06/22/2022
By Kelly Sutherland
The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, invites you to attend a doctoral defense by Kelly T. Sutherland on “Guilt Status, Plea Outcomes, and Perceptions of Defendants Who Plead Guilty.”
Candidate Name: Kelly T. Sutherland
Degree: Ph.D. in Applied Psychology and Prevention Science
Defense Date: Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Time: Noon to 2 p.m.
Location: Zoom. Please contact Kelly_Sutherland@uml.edu or Miko_Wilford@uml.edu for a link to attend.
Committee Advisor: Miko M. Wilford., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Committee Members:
- Yan Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Laura Smalarz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University
Brief Abstract:
Over 97% of federal convictions and 94% of state convictions are the result of guilty pleas (Missouri v. Frye, 2012). A guilt bias exists for defendants who plead guilty, such that defendants who plead guilty are perceived as less likely to be factually innocent than defendants who are convicted at trial (Sutherland et al., 2020). Study 1 of this dissertation replicated this guilt bias phenomenon and investigated perceivers’ sensitivity to coercive plea-bargaining discounts. Studies 2 and 3 of this dissertation investigated the role of defendant innocence in sentencing expectations for lay people and defense attorneys when considering a plea offer.