The “CSI Effect”

I like watching CSI. There has been talk about the “CSI Effect”.  What is it?  In my opinion, there are several effects.

First is the effect on criminals.  People say that criminals watching CSI will learn how to make it harder for the police to catch them.  In other words, knowing what techniques the police use will inform the criminal to try to prevent such evidence from being left around. 

I think this “CSI Effect” is largely an urban myth.  Most criminals are not bright enough to think about how not to make a mess or about cleaning up their messes effectively.  (Except Karla and Paul, whose cleanup efforts appeared to have been successful and who both are very smart, although deviant, people.)  I would doubt that a criminal would want to stick around a crime scene long enough to take the measures necessary to clean up traces of their presence. 

The second effect, which seems to be of concern, is the effect on juries.  The fear is that a juror will expect police to be as “effective” as the police on CSI in processing a crime scene.  They may also expect the prosecution to produce the kind of evidence as seen on TV.  Jurors might forget that the dramatic licence taken by the scriptwriters often makes the scenes unrealistic.  Jurors might then form “reasonable doubt” in their minds because they think the prosecution and police couldn’t produce a case up to the TV standards.

Another effect, really an offshoot of the second effect, is that the expectations of the general public will be artificially raised and the general public will lose confidence in the police and Crown because they can’t seem to produce the results that are produced on TV. 

Another effect of these law shows is the perceptions they give to viewers about how the legal system works.  The law shows that include courtroom drama (Law & Order etc.) often portray lawyers behaving in a manner that, in the show, seems quite effective but, in our courtrooms, would have the judge throwing the lawyers out of the court. 

In real life, court is not nearly as dramatic as on TV.  Lawyers waving their arms about and shouting is bad.  Yelling at a witness will earn the wrath of a judge. 

Often, we have to remind our clients that the legal system is not as it appears on TV.  I was called by a potential client who was looking for a new lawyer because he felt his lawyer was “giving in too much”.  I know the other lawyer and I can say with confidence that he does not “give too much”, ever.  Here, it seems that the person was expecting his lawyer to fight every point like a pit bull, instead of understanding that you get more credibility and respect from a court if you only fight the battles which you have a hope of winning.

Now, back to my show…