ABA Journal reports on a Yale study suggesting that defense lawyers should use their peremptory challenges to keep males off a jury when the client is an overweight woman:
Researchers asked 471 study participants to review the allegations, showing them one of four mug shots of the defendant. The photos showed a thin male, a thin female, an obese male or an obese female. The test subjects were then asked to rate guilt on a five-point scale. The male test subjects found the obese female defendant to be significantly guiltier than the lean female defendant. The female test subjects, on the other hand, judged guilt the same for both pictured female defendants. The weight of the male defendant did not affect the judgment of guilt by test subjects.
