Transcript Forensic Science - Tarrant County, Texas

The “CSI” Effect on the
Psychology of Jurors: The
Challenges that Pop Culture is
Bringing to the Courtroom
James McGrath, JD, MPH
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
Forensic Science
The application of a broad range of sciences to
answer legal questions
Used for both criminal and civil cases
Dates back to Aristotle
Popularized with the DNA evidence in the OJ
Simpson trial
CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation
One of the most watched shows in television
history
Has several spin off shows all of which are
usually in the top spot in their time slot
Different from other crime dramas such as
Law and Order because it follows the story
more through forensics than it follows
people and the court proceedings
CSI and the Courtroom
Experts have claimed an incidence of the
“CSI Effect” in courtrooms
– Trend in which TV shows increase the
expectations of victims’ and jury members’
concerning forensic evidence and the level
of crime scene investigation
– Trials are being presented differently at trial
CSI and the Courtroom
Also from the criminal’s perspective
Increase in crime scenes where the
evidence has been tampered with or
completely destroyed
• Burning scenes
• Using bleach
• Vacuuming carpet and removing the
vacuum cleaner
CSI and the Courtroom
Criminal Perspective: Actual Case
Murder Case in Trumbull County, OH
Mother and daughter murdered
Perpetrator:
Used bleach to wash hands
Covered car interior with blankets preventing
transfer
Burned bodies, clothes, and other potential
evidence
Attempted to sink remaining evidence in a lake
CSI and the Courtroom
Juror perspective
– Expect to see solid physical evidence
indicating the defendant
• Likely to ignore circumstantial evidence
– Always assume DNA evidence should be
found at the scene
• If physical evidence is found, it is now much
less likely to be questioned by jurors
CSI Effect - Many Definitions
The best-known definition states that CSI creates
unreasonable expectations on the part of jurors,
making it more difficult for prosecutors to obtain
convictions.
The second definition, which runs contrary to the first,
refers to the way that CSI raises the stature of
scientific evidence to virtual infallibility, thus making
scientific evidence impenetrable.
The final definition focuses on CSI's increasing lay
interest in forensics and science. Thus, viewers who
serve as jurors will be more interested in and able to
follow scientific evidence. They may even become
interested in academic training and careers in the
Baltimore Case
"I've seen a big change in jurors and what
they expect over the last five years,"
defense attorney Joseph Levin of Atlantic
City, N.J., told a local newspaper. "Jurors
can ask questions of the judge while in
deliberations, and they're asking about what
they see as missing evidence. They want to
know where the fingerprints are or the DNA.
If it's not there, they want to know why."
Robert Blake Case
Quote from juror “I would have liked more of
the kind of evidence I have seen in the
cases on ‘CSI’, I just expected more”
Jurors dismissed circumstantial
evidence
More often than not, there is little
physical evidence linking defendant
directly to the crime
Media Influence. Real?
Nation of Viewers
Studies:
Views on Crime
“Reality” Court Shows
Cultivation Theory
Pretrial Publicity
Forensic evidence
Typewriter stolen from frat house
Body found in culvert
Blood in car
Blood on hammer
Leopold’s glasses
The confessions
After finding Leopold’s glasses, both boys
are taken into custody.
They have alibis, but the alibis weaken
and they tell the truth.
Both are arrested, plead “not guilty” and
are to be tried together.
Clarence Darrow
America’s best defense
attorney
Well read, well liked
Very anti-death penalty
Darrow walked in and plead
“guilty.”
The Alienists were called in
to testify about their mental
well being.
Darrow’s closing argument
took 12 hours, and at the
end the judge and 2 jury
members were in tears
Sentencing
They were sentenced to 99 years.
The were sent to the Joliet Penitentiary.
Their prison home was “countryclubesque”
Loeb was murdered in the shower.
Leopold taught other inmates to read,
sets up library, volunteers, etc.
Released 30 years later.
In a survey of the 500 people in the jury
pool, the defense found that about 70%
were viewers of CBS' CSI or similar
shows such as Court TV's Forensic
Files or NBC's Law & Order
In Baltimore for example – less than 10%
of homicide cases in the state attorney
general’s office in 2004 involved
fingerprint or DNA evidence. Evidence
more likely to be circumstantial or reliant
on eyewitnesses.
CSI
• Myth 1: Laboratory Personnel can
examine evidence as soon as it gets to
the lab
• Usually takes months before time
permits an examination of the evidence
due to back logs and quality control
procedures
CSI
• Myth 2: One person can examine all
types of evidence
• There are few ‘generalists’ in today’s
forensics
• The expertise required for each section
of forensics sometimes requires one
piece of evidence to be examined by
more than one individual
CSI
• Myth 3: Fingerprints susceptible to
testing and identification are always
found
• Finding identifiable fingerprints that can
be collected and are of a high enough
quality to do an automated search are
rare
• Normally fingerprint comparison must be
done by ‘hand’
CSI
• Myth 4: Testing for drugs and chemicals in
blood is quick and easy
• Numerous drugs, botanicals, chemicals
that can be presented at any given crime
scene
• Numerous instruments to identify these
various compounds
• Process often takes weeks or months to
complete
CSI
Myth 5: The cooperative crime scene
• The ‘perfect’ evidence is rarely there
• Technology has greatly improved
evidence collection but no
technological advancements can find
nonexistent evidence
• Time between occurrence and
discovery of the crime is the biggest
factor
CSI
Myth 6: The fully equipped crime lab
• TV forensic labs are always fully equipped
with the most up to date technology
• Even the labs with the largest budgets
cannot afford to have the same lab quality
as the labs on TV dramas
• Shortages occur with building space, funds,
equipment and proficient personnel
CSI
Myth 7: Use and availability of some sensors
• Some of the sensors used are actually
prototypes still in the developmental stages
and are not on the market yet
• The accuracy and power of some sensors
has been enhanced beyond what they are
currently capable of detecting
CSI Website
Acknowledges some errors . .
.
Good evening. I'm sorry I don't know the
name of the episode but it is the one
where the paraglider falls to his
death. Anyway, on the part where Marg
Helgenberger investigates the guy shot
with the .50 cal gun. When she
approached the body she said the injury
was through and through. There is no way
to know that without turning the body
over. Also, that entry wound was NOT that
large. By the way, I am a general surgeon
and I have treated a lot of gunshot
wounds. Thank you and good night. Alan
W, MD
When Grissom mentions on one
episode that "Peter Parker was
bitten by a radioactive spider back
in the fifties" he was wrong. The
first issue of any comic book to
feature Spider-man was "Amazing
Fantasy #15" which came out in
1963. Hayward Simpson.
Another Effect:
Increased Public Awareness of
Forensics
Some people now look forward to jury
duty
Better sense of investigations
Popularized investigatory science
programs
Shifting demographics in forensics field
Actual Studies
Two studies
Not terribly well designed (IMHO)
Do not show the complained of effect
If anything, point to the opposite effect
Efforts to Minimize Potential Effects
In Arizona, Illinois and California, prosecutors now
use "negative evidence witnesses" to try to
assure jurors that it is not unusual for real crimescene investigators to fail to find DNA,
fingerprints and other evidence at crime scenes.
In Massachusetts, prosecutors have begun to ask
judges for permission to question prospective
jurors about their TV-watching habits. Several
states already allow that.