Providing the CSI Treatment: Criminal Justice Practitioners and the CSI Effect

Abstract

The term ‘CSI Effect’ has been used since 2002 to describe changes in juror verdict requirements. As the name suggests, the CSI Effect refers to the suggestion that jurors who watch fictional crime scene television programs, such as CSI and Law and Order, have changed their requirements for delivering a verdict according to the presence or absence of forensic evidence. In short, the term CSI Effect is used in this article to describe instances where jurors ask for additional forensic evidence, or refuse to convict where there is an absence of forensic evidence (Franzen 2002; Willing 2004). This article examines two aspects of this effect. The article examines first how criminal justice practitioners in New South Wales, Australia, have changed their practices to accommodate the changing desires of the jury. Then, the article discusses how these changing practices have impacted on available resources in the criminal justice system and the people within it, including scientists and lawyers. This article examines also how the criminal justice practitioners' belief in the CSI Effect may have changed processes involved in the criminal justice system and how these changes can have a negative impact on both victims and offenders.