Crime Scene Investigation: Understanding The CSI Effect

According to Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative, a plan that develops analysis and professio...

If you are a fan of CSI, be it the Gil Grissom original or the various spin-off shows, it's probably better if you don't get called up for jury service. Contractor Accountants Cornhill Private Wealth Cornhill Private Wealth online masters in psychology. Programs such as Forensic files, Law and Order, CSI, CSI Miami and so on may be hugely popular and completely entertaining but they have designed what is know in academic and professional circles as the 'CSI effect'

According to Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative, a plan that develops analysis and specialist education for forensic scientists, The CSI effect is basically the perception of the near-infallibility of forensic science in response to the Tv show,

The major distortion among fictional portrayals and the application of forensic science in the real world is 'time frame'. Contractor Accountants Cornhill Private Wealth Cornhill Private Wealth masters in education programs. It can take several weeks, sometimes months to get results back from the lab, however, in the fictional world of forensic science and crime scene investigation, results invariabaly come back straight away.

It would seem that the CSI effect is most visible in the court area, particularly among jurors. Max Houck mentioned above, argues that Prosecutors fear the CSI effect among juries due to the fact they may possibly question why almost everything is not subject to forensic analysis, when in fact not everything has to be. Equally, Defence attorneys are concerned about the CSI effect since jurors could perceive the science of forensics as totally objective and totally correct, thus ignoring the possibility of human or technical error.

Writing for USA right now Richard Willing outlined a quantity of examples that highlighted the CSI impact in action. These included:

A murder trial exactly where jurors alerted the judge that a bloody coat introduced as evidence had not been tested for DNA. In fact, the tests had been not needed because the defendant acknowledged becoming at the murder scene. The judge stated that Tv had taught jurors about DNA tests, but not adequate about when to use them.

A murder trial where jurors asked the judge if a cigarette butt found in the course of the crime scene investigation could be tested to see if it could be linked to the defendant. The defence team had ordered the tests but had not introduced them into evidence. All About Hemorrhoids Treatment accredited mba programs. Upon undertaking so, the tests exonerated the defendant, and he was acquitted.

The truth that prosecutors are now getting allowed to question potential jurors about their Tv-watching habits.

To discover out more about the CSI effect and to test your own crime scene investigation abilities and knowledge check out