RESULTS

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DV 1: Case Conviction

DV 2: Sentence Length

 

All results were computed by using a Type IV sum-of-squares to modify for the missing cell means in a 2x2x2 ANOVA.

Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for the conditions of the first dependent variable, case conviction. There was not a significant three way interaction between the independent variables attorney type, if biological evidence was collected at the crime scene or not, and crime type for the case conviction dependent variable, F(1,501)=.002, Mse=.187, p=.963. The were no for the participants who had a private attorney, biological evidence was found at the crime scene, and were convicted of assault, which left the cell mean unable to be compared to another.

Upon further analysis of the cell means, it was shown that those who had a public attorney, had biological evidence found at the scene of the crime, and were charged with homicide didn’t show any difference than if defendants were charged with homicide and didn’t have biological evidence in their case contrary to the research hypothesis. Interestingly, those who had a public defender, didn’t have biological evidence found at the crime scene, and were charged with assault had a significantly higher mean difference than if there was biological evidence found.

It was also found that those who were charged with homicide, hired a private attorney, and didn’t have biological evidence found at the crime scene in their case had a significantly higher mean than did those who had a public defender, had biological evidence, and were charged with homicide, contrary to the research hypothesis.

The interaction between crime type versus attorney type was significant, F(1,501)=11.275, Mse=.187, p=.001, r=.148. The interaction is descriptive of the non-significant 3-way interaction for crime type and attorney type where public attorneys that are defending homicide cases had significantly more convictions than those defending assault cases. In addition, those private attorneys defending homicide cases had significantly more convictions than those defending assault cases; this effect was larger for private attorneys than public attorneys.

The interaction between if biological evidence was found at the scenes of crime or not was not significant versus crime type, F(1,501)=.480, Mse=.187, p=.489, r=.041. The interaction is descriptive of the non-significant 3-way. Assault cases that didn’t have any biological evidence found at the crime scenes had more convictions than if there had been biological evidence found. Similarly, homicide cases that didn’t have biological evidence found at crime scenes had significantly more convictions than the cases where biological evidence was found. This effect was larger for homicide cases than for assault cases.

The interaction between if biological evidence was collected from the crime scenes in each case versus attorney type was not significant, F(1,501)=.673, Mse=.187, p=.412, r=.048. The interaction is descriptive of the non-significant 3-way. Public attorneys defending cases that did and didn’t have any biological evidence found at the crime scenes showed no significant mean differences in case convictions. Cases defended by private attorneys similarly showed that there was no difference in the number of cases that ended in convictions whether biological evidence was found at the crime scenes or not.

The main effect of attorney was significant, F(1,501)=11.244, Mse=.187, p=.001, r=.148. The main effect of this pattern is misleading of the significant interaction between attorney type and crime type. There was no difference in the number of convictions for homicide cases whether public or private attorneys were defending those cases, but assault cases defended by public attorneys ended more often in convictions than when private defense attorneys defended those cases. The main effect of attorney was also misleading for the non-significant interaction between attorney type and if biological evidence was found at the crime scenes or not. Those cases that didn’t have biological evidence found at the crime scenes didn’t show a significant difference in the number of convictions whether it was a public or private attorney defending the case. When public attorneys defended cases that did have biological evidence found at the crime scenes, there were significantly more convictions than when a private attorney defended this type of case.

The main effect of biological evidence was also significant, F(1,501)=7.908, Mse=.187, p=.005, r=.125. The main effect was misleading of the non-significant interaction of attorney type and if biological evidence was found at the crime scene or not. There was no significant difference in the number of convictions between if those cases had biological evidence found at the crime scene or not if public attorneys were defending the cases. Similarly, there was also no significant difference in the number of convictions between if those cases had biological evidence found at the crime scene or not when private attorneys defended the case. The main effect was descriptive of the interaction between crime type and whether biological evidence was found at the crime scene or not. Assault cases that didn’t have any biological evidence found at the crime scenes ended in convictions significantly more than did those cases that did have biological evidence collected at crime scenes. Similarly, homicide cases that didn’t have any biological evidence found at the crime scenes also ended in convictions significantly more than did those cases that did have biological evidence collected at crime scenes. This effect was greater for assault cases than homicide cases.

The main effect of crime type was significant, F(1,501)=56.767, Mse=.187, p=<.001, r=.319. The main effect was descriptive of the interaction between crime type and if biological evidence was found at the scene of the crime or not. Homicide cases ended in convictions significantly more than assault cases when biological evidence wasn’t found at the crime scenes. Similarly, homicide cases also ended in convictions significantly more than assault cases when biological evidence was found at the crime scenes. This effect was larger for those cases that had biological evidence found at the scene of the crime versus not finding this type of evidence. The main effect was also descriptive of the interaction between crime type and attorney type. Homicide cases significantly ended in convictions more often than assault cases when public attorneys defended the case. Furthermore, homicide cases also significantly ended in convictions more often than assault cases when private attorneys defended the case. This effect was larger for those cases that were defended by private attorneys.

 

Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for the conditions for the second dependent variable, sentence length. There was no 3-way computed since there were missing cell means. There was no data to compare the conditions of private attorneys defending assault cases that had biological evidence collected at the crime scene, versus a private attorney defending a homicide case that had biological evidence collected at the crime scene.

The interaction of crime type versus attorney type was not significant, F(1,288)=.824, Mse=77,470.983, p=.365, r=.053. This interaction is descriptive of public attorneys defending homicide cases receiving significantly longer sentence lengths than assault cases. In addition, private attorneys defending homicide cases also received significantly longer sentence lengths then assault cases. This effect was larger for private attorneys than for public attorneys.

The interaction between crime type and if biological evidence was found at the scenes of crime or not was not significant, F(1,288)=2.145, Mse=77,470.983, p=.144, r=.086. This interaction is descriptive for assault cases that didn’t have significant mean differences in sentence lengths for the cases either did or didn’t find biological evidence. For homicide cases, those that had biological evidence found at crime scenes had greater sentence lengths than did the cases that didn’t find any evidence.

This interaction was between attorney type and if biological evidence was collected from the crime scenes in each case or not, was not significant, F(1,288)=.673, Mse=77,470.983, p=.123, r=.048. This interaction was descriptive when there was a significant difference in mean sentence lengths for cases defended by a public attorney where biological evidence was found at the crime scenes had higher sentence lengths. In addition, cases defended by private attorneys also had higher sentences lengths in the cases that had biological evidence found at the crime scenes versus those that didn’t have any biological evidence found. This effect was bigger for private attorneys than for public attorneys.

The main effect of attorney is not significant, F(1,288)=.061, Mse=77,470.983, p=.804, r=.015. The main effect is descriptive of the significant interaction between attorney type and crime type, where there were no differences in the means between public and private attorneys defending assault cases. There were also no mean differences between public and private attorneys defending homicide cases. The main effect is misleading for the interaction of whether biological evidence was found at the crime scene or not and attorney type. Here, there was a significant difference in the means between private attorneys and public attorneys defending cases that had biological evidence found at the crime scenes, where those cases defended by private attorneys ended in longer sentence lengths than did those cases defended by public attorneys. However, there was no significant difference in sentence lengths between public and private attorneys defending cases that didn’t have any biological evidence found.

The main effect of evidence found is significant, F(1,288)=14.980, Mse=77,470.983, p=.<.001, r=.222. The main effect is misleading for the interaction of biological evidence and crime type, where there was no mean difference in sentence lengths for assault cases and if the evidence was found or not. For homicide cases, there were longer sentences for those cases where biological evidence was found at the scene of the crime. The main effect is descriptive for the interaction between biological evidence and attorney type, where for public defenders there were significantly longer sentences for those cases in which biological evidence was found at the crime versus those cases where it wasn’t found. In the cases that were defended by private attorneys, there were significantly longer sentence lengths when biological evidence was found at the scene of the crime, versus when it wasn’t found. The effect is greater for private attorneys than for public attorneys.

The main effect of crime type is significant, F(1,288)=35.353, Mse=77,470.983, p=.<.001, r=.331. The main effect of crime type was descriptive for the interaction between crime type and attorney type. When public attorneys defended homicide cases, those ended in significantly longer sentence lengths than when the public defenders were working assault cases. When private attorneys defended homicide cases, those also ended in significantly longer sentence lengths than when they private attorneys defended assault cases. In addition, this effect was greater for private attorneys. The main effect was also descriptive of the interaction between crime type and whether biological evidence was found at the scene of the crime or not. Homicide cases had significantly higher sentence lengths versus if it was an assault case when biological evidence wasn’t found at the crime scene. Additionally, homicide cases also had significantly higher sentence lengths versus assault cases when biological evidence was found at the crime scene and this effect was greater when biological evidence was found at the crime scenes versus when it wasn’t.

 

 

 

 

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