July 6, 2011

• The “CSI Effect”: Did it Effect the Jurors in the Casey Anthony Case?

  
  Thanks to the Popular Press and now the Casey Anthony trial, the catchy sound bite dubbed “CSI Effect” has become virtually a household word although until recently a Google search on this topic pulled only up a few mainstream articles. In a short span of less than two years, university studies and conflicting findings have appeared.

  While there is research that suggests that the “CSI Effect” is more anecdotal than proven, much of this research is early, and it focuseson lab experiences and verdicts rather than on decision-making during the deliberative process.

  What is the “CSI Effect”? How is it affecting jurors’ decision-making and the justice system as a whole? How is it manifesting in civil cases? What does a litigator need to understand about this very real phenomenon?

  The term “CSI Effect” has been used to describe a purported phenomenon whereby high-tech, forensic science dramatized in television crime dramas theoretically promotes unrealistic expectations among jurors of how conclusively forensic evidence determines innocence or guilt, or from the perspective of the civil litigator, causation, or liability.

  Accordingly, because jurors are recalibrating the way they consider evidence, this is also impacting the way they contemplate the burden of proof.

  Rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt” many prosecutors argue that jurors are applying a “beyond any doubt” standard, completely dependent on forensic,scientific evidence.

  Once the cornerstone of the justice system, proponents of the existence of the “CSI Effects” contend the use of deductive reasoning is being replaced with the need for absolute “scientific proof” of guilt or liability.

  Anecdotally, some lawyers, other professionals and law enforcement authorities complain that jurors have lost all ability to make assessments of credibility or weigh evidence but, instead, jurors have expectations that attorneys present impossibly conclusive evidence like that often seen on “CSI”.

  • 11:28 pm
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