The effect of pretrial publicity: The Bernardo case

Subjects were asked how much they had heard about the Bernardo murder case, one of the most sensational and highly publicized cases in Canadian history. They were then given a possible scenario of what the trial would contain. There was a strong association between exposure to publicity and both opinions and verdicts before the trial. Those who had heard more about the case were more likely to think he was guilty. Once they had read the trial, the effect of pretrial publicity virtually disappeared. The only remaining effect was that those who held heard the most were somewhat more likely to vote guilty than those who had heard the least. One factor, knowledge that Bernardo was also charged with other counts of rape, appeared to account for this small effect. In addition, among those living in Ontario (where the crimes occurred), all of whom had heard at least ct little about the case, there was no relation between amount heard and ratings of guilt or verdicts either before or after the trial account. We suggest that pretrial publicity has less effect than is commonly thought and that whatever effect ii does have may depend on the particular content and its relation to the facts of the specific case.