Study Aims To Debunk The ‘CSI Effect’

A study that will be published next month in the Vanderbilt University Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law challenges the so-called “CSI Effect”, which suggests that jurors are influenced by what they see on shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spinoffs. The report uses information gathered in Washtenaw County, Michigan, and concludes that most jurors are knowledgeable about technology such as DNA, fingerprints and ballistic evidence regardless of which television series they watch.

The study also found that fans of shows like CSI were just as likely to return a guilty verdict in cases that rely on more traditional evidence like witness testimony. “Our conclusion was that there was no such thing as a ‘CSI Effect,'” said Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Donald Shelton. “We suggested it should be called the ‘tech-effect’ because it simply reflects the knowledge people have of the role of technology in our culture.”

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