"Predictors of Criminal Court Victory: A Five-County Analysis of Defendant Success Rates.".

While a massive literature exists concerning the success rates of civil litigants (McGuire 1995), relatively few in-depth studies of criminal litigants exist. Most that do exist focus on post-trial sentencing rather than determinants of in-court success (Bushway and Piehl 2001). In an attempt to determine why some criminal defendants win, I conduct a large-N study of criminal case results in five sizable heartland counties. I hypothesize that weak legal position (prior record, felon status, violent criminal status, rural forum location) and weak social position (membership in disadvantaged race, age, sex, residency, and class groups) will make defendants more likely to lose. In contrast, strong social position will make defendants more likely (1) to have the case against them dropped or dismissed and (2) to win it if it is not. Logistic regression analysis supported both hypotheses, but supported the second more strongly. However, in both models run, the majority of social and legal variables did prove predictive. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]