Jurors typically employ one of several perceptual lenses to help them examine the evidence in a case. Their perspective might be legal-based, moralistic, or anti-corporate, to name a few. One perspective that often gets overlooked is when jurors are guided by a cynicism lens.
Cynical jurors regularly and thoroughly question the motives of corporations, which leads to fundamental mistrust. The cynic has a negative outlook and it does not take a lot to get this type of juror to believe something nefarious happened. Akin to conspiracy theories, jurors who harbor sheer negativity in a global sense fully believe in their own evidence that was not presented and does not exist.
Jurors guided by cynicism not only create negative interpretations of people’s intentions and speculate about evidence, but they also embrace cynicism as a badge of honor and feel they are more perceptive than others. They just know the real story. The good news is that this type of juror is generally outspoken and not shy about their skeptical point of view, which helps identify them during voir dire. Listen for it and you will recognize it.
