Shocker: Computer Animations In Court Influence Jury Perception

from the oh-really? dept

Tue, Apr 11th 2006 10:45am — Mike Masnick

Four years ago, we wrote about the increasing use of computer generated animation in court cases to help give the jury a picture of what happened. At the time, we wrote that it sounded like a terrible idea in most cases -- since whoever made the animation could clearly make it out to favor their case strongly. Even though the jury would understand that it was part of one side's case, as long as the animation was moderately believable, it would likely influence the jury to believe that's exactly what really happened. New research is suggesting exactly that. Juries who see computer animations are strongly influenced and biased by the animations, and cannot easily disregard what they've seen. This seems a bit obvious. Part of the role of the juror is to try to figure out what actually happened at the scene of the crime, and anything that helps them "picture" the events in their minds are likely to have a very strong influence over how they imagine things happened -- even if elements of the animation are entirely made up. While some may wonder how this is any different than with a lawyer simply describing what may have happened, the fact that the video shows so many elements at the scene -- some of which may seem minor -- means that it can go well beyond just a verbal description in influencing how people imagine the event played out.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

18 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2006 @ 11:11am

Donkey Kong anyone?
Video games don't influence players to go out and shoot people/race cars/organize blocks/eat mushrooms as much as court video animations 100% produced by computers influence juries to believe whatever they are shown, to be entirely 100% truth.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
dani, 11 Apr 2006 @ 11:14am

I agree with the commenter 4 years ago...

"Hmmm, heck, as long as each side got the same access to the same tools to generate their view, maybe it would be a good thing!

msykes"

If people are going to decide the fate of others, they should be able to think for themselves and discern truth.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- pz, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:34pm
  
  Re:
  That's what lawyers often do: project their versions of "truth" and defend it.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Grumpy Old Man, 11 Apr 2006 @ 11:14am

More rich getting off
As it becomes more of a common tool two things will happen,
1. Every wealthy defendant’s lawyer will use this to show their client in the best light, this will lead to prosecutors getting animation departments to have their own version of events. Of course the same said wealthy person’s defense team will be better financed and thus have a more believable animated presentation.
2. Poorer defendants (including all that have to use a Public Defender) will not have the resources for this tool.

So in the end you end up right where we are now, spend enough money get away with murder. Be poor, and go to jail for crimes you may not have committed.

I do believe we have the best criminal justice system in the world. Just a sad fact of life that the wealthy/affluent people of the world get to live by different rules.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2006 @ 11:47am
  
  Re: More rich getting off
  They'd have to be pretty wealthy to have more money than the government.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - dani, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:15pm
    
    Re: Re: More rich getting off
    The lawyers of wealthy people are often better than the lawyers defending the government
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Natholin, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:17pm
    
    Re: Re: More rich getting off
    LOL
    They may not have more money then the government but the point is that the Gov. will not spend as much to protect you as a rich guy will spend to protect himself.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Zeroth404, 11 Apr 2006 @ 11:26am

hot dogs are best with lots of pickle relish.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hodgii, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:33pm

What next?
Will the next O.J. hire Pixar for the defence team?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ginger, 11 Apr 2006 @ 1:34pm
  
  Re: What next?
  Yes, with their client depicted as an adorable anthropomorphized robot/insect/car with a beloved celebrity voice.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ginger, 11 Apr 2006 @ 1:34pm
  
  Re: What next?
  Yes, with their client depicted as an adorable anthropomorphized robot/insect/car with a beloved celebrity voice.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
anonymous coward, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:41pm

i saw a violent video recreation as a juror and before I knew what happened i was smoking pot and beating the shit out of jurors.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
JayFish, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:55pm

Wow. Anony Coward has been keeping up to date. LOL. Great observation. The power of court animations to cuase viloence and pot smoking. This could turn into an epidemic!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
person, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:59pm

if the animations helped you, would you really be
All you people out there can say that you think its a bad idea to use animations in court but what if it was you sitting there? what if someone you held dear was killed and the only way to show the sequence of events was a n anitmation? Would you be so quick to judge? Its easy to say well the rich would benifit. When dont the rich benifit over the poor? People probably said the same things about photographs when they began to enter the court system as evidence. Technology can go anywhere people take it, maybe one day it will clear your name.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Vinnie, 12 Apr 2006 @ 1:45pm
  
  Re: if the animations helped you, would you really
  Or maybe one day it will hang you for a crime you didn't commit.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:59pm

This is about the manipulation of perception. I studied martial arts with a guy that had been... messing around with a certain woman and the guy she was allegedly seeing confronted him on the street, and a small crowd gathered as the exchange got more heated. Now, you think the martial arts guy would've just mopped the floor (or in this case, concrete) with the guy, but there are legal repercussions to consider. So while the boyfriend guy was letting loose with his verbal attack, the martial arts guy grabbed his own head and yelled, fell down and begged the guy not to hit him again. In reality, the guy never actually touched him, but half the witnesses watching swore to police that he did. Manipulation of perception. In the case of this story this is just high tech manipulation. And video or television images are very powerful.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tashi, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:59pm

manipulation of perception
This is about the manipulation of perception. I studied martial arts with a guy that had been... messing around with a certain woman and the guy she was allegedly seeing confronted him on the street, and a small crowd gathered as the exchange got more heated. Now, you think the martial arts guy would've just mopped the floor (or in this case, concrete) with the guy, but there are legal repercussions to consider. So while the boyfriend guy was letting loose with his verbal attack, the martial arts guy grabbed his own head and yelled, fell down and begged the guy not to hit him again. In reality, the guy never actually touched him, but half the witnesses watching swore to police that he did. Manipulation of perception. In the case of this story this is just high tech manipulation. And video or television images are very powerful.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tashi, 11 Apr 2006 @ 12:59pm

manipulation of perception
This is about the manipulation of perception. I studied martial arts with a guy that had been... messing around with a certain woman and the guy she was allegedly seeing confronted him on the street, and a small crowd gathered as the exchange got more heated. Now, you think the martial arts guy would've just mopped the floor (or in this case, concrete) with the guy, but there are legal repercussions to consider. So while the boyfriend guy was letting loose with his verbal attack, the martial arts guy grabbed his own head and yelled, fell down and begged the guy not to hit him again. In reality, the guy never actually touched him, but half the witnesses watching swore to police that he did. Manipulation of perception. In the case of this story this is just high tech manipulation. And video or television images are very powerful.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]