NCJ Number
142586
Journal
Criminology Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1993) Pages: 243-262
Date Published
1993
Length
20 pages
Annotation
A sample of 1,670 misdemeanor cases was randomly selected from all nontraffic misdemeanors scheduled for a district court hearing (Mecklenburg County, North Carolina) from January through June 1990 to determine whether disposition patterns may be distinguished on the basis of type of complaining party.
Abstract
Logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of conviction for a model that includes a dummy-coded type of victim variable and then separately for each group of cases. Individual victims were significantly less likely to secure conviction when compared with the reference category of victimless events. Corporate events failed to differ from the no-victim category in terms of disposition type. The only consistent finding across all cases was the importance of the number of case continuances in the determining disposition: the greater the number of court appearances, the more likely a case was to be dismissed or to result in a not guilty verdict. Corporate targeted misdemeanors were more likely to result in conviction. Overall, the study findings provide support for a structural interpretation of lower court case outcomes. 5 notes, 2 tables, and 37 tables