Introduction:
A homicide detective once told me that “jurors expect us to be able to lift a fingerprint off a gnat’s assâ€. A crass statement to be sure, but even the article required for this assignment contains a similar anecdote in which the author, who is also a judge, once heard a juror criticize the prosecutor for not conducting a thorough investigation because the prosecutor “didn’t even dust the lawn for fingerprintsâ€. Fact: these shows are everywhere. Turn on your TV – scroll through the guide – is there a fictional crime show on? Probably…and given how pervasive these shows are in society it is at least a valid question as to whether or not jurors truly are being influenced by them.
You should have a good idea of what the CSI effect is after the first lecture. But does it really exist? Is there any scientific or empirical research actually demonstrating a true effect, or is the evidence mostly anecdotal. Is it really influencing us, the potential jurors of society, to believe that criminal investigation and forensic science is fast, infallible and conclusive, and always leads to the suspect…every time! The phenomenon gained attention after a few highly publicized cases made the news where it seemed to have been influence.
What does it matter if jurors are being influenced by fictional, CSI-like shows? I refer you to the 6th Amendment that includes the entitlement to a trial by an impartial jury – is that standard maintained if we are bringing what we see on TV into the deliberation room in deciding a verdict?
General Guidelines: Your task for this assignment is to prepare an annotated bibliography on the CSI Effect. You should conduct a reference search and find appropriate sources that contain information on any aspect of the CSI Effect – these articles can discuss what it is, whether it exists, surveys of individuals who work in the system on their perceptions of the CSI Effect or any other topic that deals with the CSI Effect.
Your completed annotated bibliography should:
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