The CSI Effect What is a Prosecutor to do?

The CSI Effect What is a Prosecutor to do? 1/13/2006 Randy Secontine

Mayberry RFD CHIPS LA Law Quincy NYPD Blue Television Dragnet Matlock Hill Street Blues Reality Miami Vice That stuff only happens on TV

CSI Miami Law & Order CSI CSI New York The Practice + CSI Las Vegas Reality Television

CSI Miami Law & Order CSI New York The Practice CSI Las Vegas Reality Television CSI

How Popular Are These Shows?* 1. Dancing w/ the Stars 2. NBA Finals Game 7 3. CSI: Crime Scene Invest. 4. CSI: Miami 5. NBA Finals Game 4 6. Without a Trace 7. NBA Finals Game 3 8. Two and a Half Men 9. (movie) Twelve Mile Rd. 10. Law & Order 11. NCIS Nielson Media Research for June 13-19, 05 As reported by Maricopa County Attorney s Office, June 30, 2005, page 4

53.5 million viewers!! Some of them will be coming to a jury box near you!

Is This The Perfect Storm In Criminal Justice? Backlogged Crime Labs Shrinking Police Budgets Resulting in Under Staffing on the Street Overly Tolerant Prosecutors Advances in Forensic Science Investigative Techniques that Make the Impossible Seem Possible Innocence Project TV Shows Like CSI making fiction seem like fact Unreasonable (?) Juror Expectations

What is the CSI Effect? What s happening is [that] everyday people are watching the TV show and they think they re being educated as well as entertained... When they are a member of a real case, they think they have knowledge of the scientific progress. They think the police didn t do their job because they didn t find a fingerprint. We re polluting the jury pools. (emphasis added) Thomas Mauriello, Forensic Scientist, Adjunct Professor @ U of Maryland at College Forensic Scientist, Adjunct Professor @ U of Maryland at College Park, as quoted in The Washington Times and on washingtontimes.com (2004)

Prosecutors Are Not Alone... It is becoming known as the CSI effect -- a syndrome that renders judges, juries and the public incapable of accepting a defendant s innocence unless he has DNA on his side. (emphasis added) Article by Kirk Makin,, Toronto Globe & Mail, Nov. 22, 04 posted on the web-site Injusticebusters

How Prevalent Is the CSI Effect? 634,000 hits on Google Search (8/4/05) Feature Stories by Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CBS News, BBC & more FBI Created a 2 Hour Training Video The CSI Effect- Fact or Fiction? Maricopa County (Arizona) Attorney s Office Researched, Wrote & Distributed CSI: Maricopa County The CSI Effect and its Real-Life Impact on Justice (11 pages, dated June 30, 2005)

What was the Result of the Study? Maricopa County prosecutors will soon, by office policy, be directed formally to fully address the techniques used by defense attorneys who use the CSI Effect to sway juries. This will involve countering the CSI Effect through voir dire, opening and closing arguments, and presentation of other evidence and testimony. By properly countering the defense tactics of questioning the work of investigators or pointing out the absence of forensic evidence, prosecutors will help to restore greater balance to the criminal justice system. MCAO survey, page 10 (emphasis added)

Areas Subject to CSI Effect Not an Exhaustive List! Alcohol Testing/Toxicology (extrapolations, need for DataMaster, etc In-Car Cameras Recorded Interrogations Fingerprints Serology Evidence (blood, semen, saliva, etc) Trace Evidence (hair, fiber, etc) DNA (timing, testing, & technology) Narcotics Questioned Documents Sexual Assault Kits Blood Spatter Eyewitness Testimony Event Data Recorder (EDR, aka Black Box ) Impressions (tire, tools, etc) Firearms (gunshot residue, distance determinations, etc.) Many, many more

CSI Effect in the Real World

1 2 3 Maryland v. Pringle 540 US 366 124 S. Ct. 795 (2003)

Detroit News Article (August 7, 2005) Once the doors close, what matters is the case before you, not what you know from Law & Order 3:30 am stop for swerving D admitted to drinking 4-5 beers, PLUS 2 gin and tonics Alcohol on D s breath D failed FSTs (counting backwards & standing on 1 foot) D was lost headed in wrong direction D admitted I really fucked up D blew.08% BAC

Defense Attacks Absence of mysterious state inspector that certified DataMaster Officer impeached by DataMaster instructions Arresting agency used tap water to clean DataMaster not advised distilled water FSTs were done late at night, in very cold & snowy conditions. Poor performance not surprising Vast resources of the State Argued rate the alcohol metabolized over 8-98 9 hours VERDICT = NOT GUILTY!

Real Life Impact Facts Arizona Dept. of Corrections found a dirty syringe in a cell w/ a note signed by Jimbo During investigation, officers tracked down Jimbo Defendant had a fresh red needle mark on the arm Defendant admitted the needle was his Verdict Not Guilty Why? Jurors emphasized No DNA Evidence No Fingerprints No Handwriting Analysis No Blood Testing of Defendant Reported by Katie McDevitt, East Valley (Arizona) Tribune, July 1, 2005

Are There Any Benefits from CSI Effect? More Demanding Prosecutors More Educated Officers More Complete Investigations More Enthusiastic Jurors Easier to Present Scientific Evidence Due to Jurors Familiarity More Students Pursuing Forensic Science as a Career Law Enforcement Community s Increased Demands Will Drive Private Sector Tech Companies to Develop New Technologies For the Future

Know Your Enemy! CSI Effect Can be Done, but Wasn t Can t be Done AKA, Incomplete Investigation -No Fingerprints -No Videotape of Interrogation -No Use of In-Car Camera That only happens on TV! -Fingerprints off water -Dating of fingerprints -Squirting calk into a knife wound to make a cast of the weapon

Best Way to Overcome CSI Effect? Communication Anticipation Preparation Persuasion

Communication Requirements Victim Prosecutor Jurors Police

Resource References The CSI Effect: Fake TV and its Impact on Jurors in Criminal Cases, by Karin H. Cather, printed in NDAA s The Prosecutor March/April 2004 Basic Trial Techniques for Prosecutors, APRI Special Topic Series, May 2005. American Prosecutors Research Institute, 99 Canal Center Plaza, Ste 510, Alexandria, VA, 22314, www.ndaa-apri.org FBI Video Tape: The CSI Effect Fact or Fiction? Created by FBI Training Network Available via PSR/Creative Communications, 8004 Foster Street, Overland Park, KS 66204, (913)649-9247, FAX (913) 649-9250, e-mail: psr@kc.rr.com (cost is approx. $24, incl. S & H) CSI: Maricopa County... The CSI Effect and its Real-Life Impact on Justice, A Study by the Maricopa County Attorney s Office, June 30, 2005, Maricopa County (AZ) Attorney s Office, Andrew P. Thomas, County Attorney, www.maricopacountyattorney (press releases)