Perceptions of the CSI-effect by New York State Prosecutors and Forensic Science Requests at Trial

When the television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation aired in 2000, the media coined a term, the CSI-effect, to explain the apprehensiveness of attorneys related to the assumption that people watching forensic television programs had high, unrealistic expectations of forensic science techniques available within the crime laboratory. Literature indicated that the CSI-effect had a direct influence on the legal field; however, the extent of the phenomenon within the trial process and the measures taken to counteract the perceptions of the CSI-effect had not been identified. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if and to what extent a relationship exists between the perception of the CSI-effect held by New York State prosecutors and their requests for forensic evidence processing and requests for forensic expert witnesses in trial. A quantitative study was used to examine if the CSI-effect had changed how the legal field perceived and employed forensic science in a criminal trial with an independent variable, perception of the CSI-effect by New York State prosecutors, and two dependent variables, frequency of increased requests for forensic evidence and forensic expert witnesses. A pilot study was conducted using St. Lawrence County and Steuben County District Attorney's Offices in New York State prior to the final study. Electronic survey data was collected from a purposive sample of current prosecutors employed within twenty-one District Attorney's Offices throughout New York State. Results indicated a relationship existed between the perception of the prosecutor and forensic evidence requests and forensic expert witnesses.