LAT: 'CSI' Effect or Just Flimsy Evidence? The Jury Is Out

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jurors18mar18,1,3676957.story?coll=la-headlines-california

'CSI' Effect or Just Flimsy Evidence? The Jury Is Out

The Blake case raises the issue of whether forensic shows influence how much proof is needed.
By Andrew Blankstein and Jean Guccione
Times Staff Writers

March 18, 2005

(snip)

By the end of the first week, Moore said in an interview Thursday, she and the other early skeptics were mostly in agreement with the majority, having decided that the evidence presented hadn't proved the prosecution's case.

One factor that may have played into that perception, experts suggest, was an increasing desire on the part of juries for the kind of certainty shown on television programs such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," in which crimes are solved conclusively in less than an hour.

Across the country, prosecutors say juries are demanding more from them. In the Blake case, jurors said Thursday that they wanted more-convincing evidence, such as conclusive gunshot residue on Blake's hands, or a fingerprint on the murder weapon, or more precision from casual eyewitnesses about Blake's actions around the time Bakley was shot to death in a parked car in Studio City.

(snip)

jury convicted him. Typical example of the media trying to create a story.

thousands, especially minorities, were executed on a lot weaker evidence and, as you say, the Scott Peterson does stand out