The ‘CSI’ Effect on the Blake Jury

The March 18 article, “ ‘CSI’ Effect or Just Flimsy Evidence? The Jury Is Out,” raises the interesting question of whether forensic TV shows skewed the expectations of jurors in the Robert Blake case. To this I would add the effect of the reality game show genre, such as “People’s Court.”

The responses of jurors after this and other recent trials increasingly focus on the performance of the prosecution and sometimes the defense attorneys rather than the truth. It is as if jurors view themselves as judges on a judicial version of “American Idol,” rating the performance of two competing attorneys. Judges need to remind juries that their role is not to be game show judges of performances but to strive to ascertain the truth, regardless of how well it is presented.

Tom Katsouleas

Manhattan Beach

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The March 18 article linking viewing of the TV show “CSI” to the Blake jury’s standard of evidence did not deal with an important issue. Potential jurors for the Superior Court are shown a film in the jury preparation room, as I was when I was called for jury duty. That film mentions the word “justice” no more than twice and the word “evidence” no less than 17 times. What that conveys to me is that we do not have a system of justice; we have a system of evidence. If jurors accept that premise, as I did, then the standard for evidence has to be rigorous or the system fails. If the state has problems with that, it might consider orienting potential jurors in a less emphatic fashion. It seems to me that holding the prosecution to the highest possible standard of evidence is what we were being asked to do.

Rhoda Blecker

Reseda