IS THE “CSI effect”, attributed to watching TV crime dramas, giving people unrealistic expectations of seeing forensic evidence in the courtroom?
Not according to Donald Shelton, a judge in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who says this concern of prosecutors is misplaced. Together with researchers at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, he surveyed more than 1000 potential jurors, presenting them with hypothetical criminal cases.
Viewers of the forensic science TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation did have higher expectations. For example, 80 per cent of them expected to see some form of scientific evidence in an attempted murder case, compared with…
