On August 22, 2007, the Indiana Lawyer’s front page featured a collaborative research project between ThemeVision and Indiana University, which had surveyed lawyers, judges, and jurors from 179 criminal trials in Indiana. The article, titled “Influence Inside the Jury Room,” discussed the study’s findings, which included a strong statistical relationship between verdict and the presence on the jury of a pro-acquittal “faction leader.” The Indiana Lawyer article also quoted Dr. Stolle on some of the practical implications of the findings: “As a trial lawyer, as part of that process where you are trying to reduce risk, you need to ID people likely to be leaders and decide whether you want to exercise a strike on that person.
