'CSI Effect' Hits Dane County Courtrooms
Judge Warns Jurors: This Is Not TV
Posted: 10:25 am CST March 3, 2005Updated: 1:59 pm CST March 3, 2005
MADISON, Wis. -- A Dane County judge says unrealistic expectations are impacting jurors in Dane County. It's called the "CSI effect."
Crime officials told News 3 the positive side of the CSI phenomenon is that the crime shows have made terms, such as "DNA," household names. However, now jurors want DNA evidence every time.The TV shows images of crime and murder and detectives who easily find clues and catch the bad guy in 60 minutes. But in real life, when it's time to try the bad guy, it's not quite that simple."It changes their expectations," said Dane County Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey. "In a who-done-it, they want fingerprints or DNA or something like that -- and it isn't always that easy to get that stuff and then get it analyzed by the state lab."
Humphrey said jurors could let a guilty person go if they don't get the evidence they see on television.Dane County Judge Stuart Schwart is trying to curb those expectations by reading a special letter to his jurors. He wants jurors to know he won't act like the judges on TV and the jurors may not get confessions or DNA evidence."In fiction, the detective is never wrong, the main character is always clever and creative," Schwartz said. "That smoking gun makes it easy for jurors to reach their decision."How similar is the Wisconsin state crime lab to the labs you see on TV? First, the lighting in Wisconsin's lab is bright, so analysts can actually see their work. On CSI, you might wonder how the analysts can see anything with mood shadows all over the CSI lab.
Also Wisconsin analysts don't carry guns, like the hot shots on CSI."We don't interrogate people, we don't go out to crime scenes and shoot people," said Jerry Gertz.However, the DNA set up is actually very similar, but it's just not as fast."It takes several days to do DNA analysis," Gertz said.Also, gun striations are actually analyzed the same, but one big difference is fingerprinting. In Wisconsin, a special machine using super glue, exposes a culprit's prints. But when it's time to find a match, there's no computer that flies through prints. It's much more complicated -- the naked eye has to make the match on paper.And finally, in real life sometimes all this work doesn't pay off."The other fallacy on TV is they solve all their crimes, all the crimes aren't solved," Gertz said.
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CSI Effect In MadisonHumphrey said jurors could let a guilty person go if they don't get the evidence they see on television.Dane County Judge Stuart Schwart is trying to curb those expectations by reading a special letter to his jurors. He wants jurors to know he won't act like the judges on TV and the jurors may not get confessions or DNA evidence."In fiction, the detective is never wrong, the main character is always clever and creative," Schwartz said. "That smoking gun makes it easy for jurors to reach their decision."How similar is the Wisconsin state crime lab to the labs you see on TV? First, the lighting in Wisconsin's lab is bright, so analysts can actually see their work. On CSI, you might wonder how the analysts can see anything with mood shadows all over the CSI lab.Also Wisconsin analysts don't carry guns, like the hot shots on CSI."We don't interrogate people, we don't go out to crime scenes and shoot people," said Jerry Gertz.However, the DNA set up is actually very similar, but it's just not as fast."It takes several days to do DNA analysis," Gertz said.Also, gun striations are actually analyzed the same, but one big difference is fingerprinting. In Wisconsin, a special machine using super glue, exposes a culprit's prints. But when it's time to find a match, there's no computer that flies through prints. It's much more complicated -- the naked eye has to make the match on paper.And finally, in real life sometimes all this work doesn't pay off."The other fallacy on TV is they solve all their crimes, all the crimes aren't solved," Gertz said. Copyright 2006 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
