Author Profile

Robin Conley Riner

Associate professor, Marshall University

Robin Conley Riner is associate professor of anthropology at Marshall University. Her book, Confronting the Death Penalty: How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases, published with Oxford University Press, examines jury decision-making in Texas capital trials.

Latest Columns

Law and Order

A lie told to jurors, sanctioned by the state of Texas

By Robin Conley Riner, March 28, 2017

My research on Texas capital jurors suggests that this legal misdirection leaves many with a heavy burden they carry with them after making a life or death decision. Shouldn't jurors who are forced to make a potentially life-ending choice be told the truth about their decision-making?