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People who enjoy any media involving the criminal justice system are more likely to have a false belief/narrative of how the criminal justice system impacts their decisions in the courtroom.

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What is the "CSI effect," and what causes it? 

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What is the "CSI effect," and what causes it? 

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Most people nowadays enjoy actual crime shows such as Law in Order, but some people need to realize there is a difference between objective forensic evidence and shows made up of science. There are many definitions of this so-called CSI effect, but most agree that it's most prominent in the courtrooms, where the juror has watched one of these shows and believes that they understand forensic science even when everything they know is from a television show meant for entertainment.

But this effect is not just caused by watching certain TV shows; it could come from any media that mentions the criminal justice system. According to the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine by Errikson, D, Gailes, B and Horseman G, the effect is “this phenomenon that now extends beyond crime-based television programs. for example, literature, video games, and the media via news articles, may also play a role in this effect” (Errickson, Gailes, and Horseman, 2019). So overall, the CSI effect is the influence that viewing different types of media related to the criminal justice system or forensics will have on setting up unrealistic expectations that impact the court.

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Many different effects and impacts stem from the CSI effect, Like how it can influence some people, but mainly jurors, to be biased toward forensic evidence. According to the Canadian Journal of Criminology by Corbett, R made a list of people who could be influenced by the CSI effect, including lawyers, police officers, and community members (Corbett, 2015). This supports that it's more than jurors that could be influenced. However, Corbett also stated that there are two possible options for jurors.

Also, from the Canadian Journal of Criminology, Corbett noted that “as a result of unrealistic depictions of forensic evidence on crime television shows, jurors may be overly influenced by forensic evidence in the courtroom, leading to two possibilities: 1) when no forensic evidence is presented, jurors will acquit, and 2) when forensic evidence is presented jurors will convict, even if it’s flawed” (Corbett, 2015). Even though there are other people like police officers, lawyers, and community members, the jurors are the most affected.

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What experiments were conducted to prove this?

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What experiments were conducted to prove this?

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The understanding is that the CSI effect can cause anyone, but mainly jurors, to be biased because of what they see on television. This has led to multiple tries to prove or disprove this with experiments they had conducted.

One of them was from Stanford Law Review, called Investigating the “CSI effect” effect: media and litigation crisis in criminal law, by Cole, S and Dioso-Villa, R., who found that when surveying the legal actors, “79% reported some specific instance in which they felt juries’ decisions were influenced by forensic programs, in these cases they cited jury preference for forensic evidence was 50%, the jury discounting the eyewitnesses was 53%, and an increased use of negative evidence witnesses was 28%” ( Cole and Dioso-Villa, 2009, p.1335-1373. 38).

However, another survey reports that the legal actors themselves were once influenced by forensic TV. They also did psychological experiments and a study on jurors. The most important result from this is that it proves that this effect can influence not only jurors but also the legal actors. This also relates to my thesis: "People who enjoy any type of media that involves the criminal justice system are more likely to have a false belief/narrative of how the criminal justice system impacts their decision in the courtroom”( Cole and Dioso-Villa 2009, p.1335-1373. 38).

Using the results from the surveys they had conducted further supports my thesis because they provide evidence that jurors were influenced by CSI TV shows and had certain things that influenced them, whether from wanting more forensic evidence or having a negative perception towards a witness. They also stated that it could affect anyone who has watched any CSI, including some legal actors.

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The case study that relates to the CSI effect and my thesis was the case in 2004 in Peoria, Illinois, where a man was accused of raping a teenage girl in a local park. Even though the victim had correctly identified who had attacked her, some items of the man were found at the crime scene, as well as DNA that linked back to the victim and the man who had shot her. But the viertic had come back that the man was not guilty. The jury wanted more forensic evidence and more testing to be performed on the victim, which many argue wouldn't add anything to the case. It seems like the jury knows from CSI that the police could have done some more testing, but they had the attacker's DNA (Hedgepeth, 2012).

This supports my thesis because it shows how the “CSI effect” could influence the juror. After all, some jurors, in this case, had seen that police could have the dirt found on the victim tested to see if it matched the dirt from the crime scene, which is just the jury wanting more forensic evidence when there was plenty of evidence that was already presented that shows the man was guilty.

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Finally, the CSI effect has caused people to be influenced to make different decisions based on knowledge from any media that involves the criminal justice system, and most of it could have adverse effects in a courtroom setting. It is an important topic because when people are unaware, they believe everything they see on TV is entirely accurate, which is false. But, it could sometimes be beneficial when the jurors ' knowledge of things like forensic evidence has increased.

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Errickson, D., Gailes, S. B. and Horseman, G. (October 2019). The csi effect (s no one?). Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. Vol.67, p.64-65.

Cole, S. A. and Dioso-Villa, R. (April 2009). Investigating the “CSI effect” effect: media and litigation crisis in criminal law. Stanford Law Review. Vol.61 (6), p.1335-1373. 38

Corbett, R. (January 1, 2015). Beyond frequency: perceived realism and the CSI effect. Canadian Journal of Criminology. Vol.57(1), .83-114. 31

For the Case Study:

Hedgepeth, M. (2012, May 26). The thirteenth juror: the “CSI effect”. Campell Law Observer. http://campbelllawobserver.com/the-thirteenth-juror-the-csi-effect/