HOW HE SEES IT Jurors caught between fact and fiction

The nearly 40 million TV viewers, who sit down every week to watch "CSI," whether it's the Las Vegas, Miami or New York version, are being introduced to an unrealistic portrayal of the criminal justice system. The crime drama phenomenon dubbed the "CSI effect" is having a powerful impact on real-life criminal investigations and the way evidence is presented at trial.
Some experts suggest that viewers are receiving a weekly lesson in hokey investigation gimmicks. Thomas Mauriello, a forensic scientist, told the Wall Street Journal that 40 percent of the forensic science depicted on CSI does not exist.
However not all agree. Dean Gialamas of the Orange County California Sheriff's Office told National Geographic, "The gadgetry that your see on TV is very close to what we have in real life." In fact a recent study, not yet released, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro found watching CSI has no effect on juries.
So, what is the truth?
First, criminalists don't normally carry guns like their television counterparts. Most, if not all, of the work is done in a lab. TV's CSI criminalists constantly find fingerprints, fiber samples and DNA evidence at every crime scene. In fact, few criminal cases have any physical evidence to present at trial. A study done by Frank Horvath and Robert Messig determined that physical evidence is used in less than 25 percent of cases prosecuted in the United States.
Last year, The Washington Post reported that jurors deciding Robert Blake's fate in the murder of his wife, voted for acquittal because they wanted more evidence, i.e. gun shot residue or blood spatter. The Post also wrote about a Prince George's County acquittal. The jury was concerned about a half eaten hamburger found at the murder scene that was not tested for DNA. Recently, CBS News reported on a Baltimore murder trial that ended in an acquittal even though there were two eyewitnesses. The jurors wanted fingerprints.
Beyond the call of duty
The CSI effect puts prosecutors in the unenviable (and costly) position of having to prove to a jury things that do not exist. The prosecution might call an expert to explain why fingerprints can't be lifted from a bed sheet during a rape investigation or why DNA testing was ineffective on a beer can lying in the rain at a crime scene.
The CSI effect is raising the bar for prosecutors. The burden of proof in a criminal case is "beyond a reasonable doubt." Reasonable doubt has never been easily defined. The best example may be: a doubt that would cause a reasonable person to hesitate in making an important decision. Now television is breeding a generation of jurors who want indisputable physical evidence before they vote to convict. The burden of "beyond a reasonable doubt" is quickly evolving into "beyond all doubt."
The CSI effect goes beyond the courtroom. Some experts suggest that "CSI," "Law & amp; Order," "Forensic Files" and the multitude of other crime shows are training a whole new set of diabolical killers -- criminals who premeditate their crimes and utilize cover-up techniques gleaned from television. According to the Associated Press, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office has observed an increase in the use of bleach to clean-up crime scenes --a crime drama staple.
Los Angeles Sheriff's Captain Richard Peavey said that since CSI was introduced to millions of viewers, clues like cigarette butts, hair and blood are being found at fewer crime scenes.
It is not so surprising that criminal defense lawyers think that the CSI effect is a good thing. Whether it's raising the bar on the burden of proof or teaching killers how to dispose of incriminating evidence, according to US News and World Report, defense attorneys "are capitalizing on [the CSI effect], seizing on the absence of forensic evidence, even in cases where there's no apparent reason for its use."
The criminal justice system, honed by centuries of learned decisions and thoughtful legislation, is rapidly evolving under the influence of Hollywood storylines cooked-up in the imagination of writers and producers. For American justice the CSI effect is really the CSI dilemma.
X Matthew T. Mangino is the former district attorney of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and a featured columnist for the Pennsylvania Law Weekly.