CSI Effect
Definition
The tendency of jurors, shaped by television forensic dramas, to have unrealistic expectations of forensic evidence quality and to either over-weight clear forensic matches or distrust cases where evidence quality is low.
- Population affected
- Jurors
- Cause
- Television forensic dramas
- Effect 1
- Over-weighting clear forensic matches
- Effect 2
- Distrusting cases with weaker forensic evidence
Common questions
Is there solid empirical evidence that the CSI effect actually changes verdicts?+
Research findings are mixed: several studies find measurable shifts in juror expectations about forensic evidence, but direct evidence that verdicts themselves change because of television viewing habits is less consistent, so the effect is best treated as a documented influence on expectations rather than a proven cause of specific outcomes.
How do courts and lawyers try to counter the CSI effect during trial?+
Common measures include voir dire questions probing jurors' forensic expectations, expert testimony explaining realistic capabilities and limits of a technique, and jury instructions clarifying that the absence of certain forensic evidence does not itself indicate reasonable doubt.
Related terms
- Authentication (FRE 901)
- The US requirement that a party offering evidence produce sufficient proof to support a finding that the item is what they claim....
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Expert's Duty to the Court
- The overriding obligation, recognised in common law and many civil law systems, that the expert's evidence must be honest, independent, and complete,...
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- PACE Section 78
- Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 78: UK courts may exclude prosecution evidence whose admission would adversely affect the fairness of...