Did 'CSI' Cause Robert Blake's Acquittal?

Several of the jurors who decided to acquit former Baretta actor Robert Blake this week in the death of his wife, recently said they'd decided to declare him not guilty because the prosecution didn't deliver CSI-like evidence.

"I just expected so much more," 45-year old juror Cecilia Maldonado told the Los Angeles Times. She added that from the beginning of jury deliberations, she didn't think the state had proved its case, and admitted that thanks to shows such as CSI, she now "a higher expectation" of evidence.

CSI fans like Maldonado were exactly who the legal strategy of defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach rested on. " I knew [the prosecution] did sloppy scientific work," he said. "In the past, if you talked about that kind of evidence, their eyes would kind of glaze over. But that's not as true now, because of shows like CSI."

In order to come up with a jury that some knowledge of forensic procedures, all potential jurors were asked if they regularly watched shows such as CSI. Of the eventual jury members, half said they watched such shows frequently, and only two said they watched them rarely - the viewing habits of the other four jurors were not released.

The LA Times quoted a member of the National District Attorneys Association, Joshua Marquis who said that prosecutors around the country are worried about the phenomenon of jurors wanting to see more forensic evidence. He found it disturbing that jurors in this case "seemed very dismissive of circumstantial evidence," Marquis said. "Well, guess what? In most cases [...] you don't have physical evidence."

But according to Barry Scheck, the president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the "CSI effect" played no part in the Blake case. He said the explanation was much simpler: "There was an absence of evidence."

The full Los Angeles Times story contains more background information on the way jurors eventually decided to declare Robert Blake not guilty. Thanks go out to Al Forno for this!

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