Did Timberlea crash suffer from CSI effect?
Editorial appeared in Fort McMurray Today June 6, 2006.
There are a lot of disappointed residents in one Timberlea neighbourhood right now.
Some are so unhappy, they're thinking about moving.
No one is at fault, however.
The fault-free zone extends far and wide.
The courts failed to find fault with the person charged with a crash last November. Charges were laid against a local man, but they were dropped.
For their part, prosecutors and police deny any fault, too. Both arms of the government did their jobs, they told Today.
Local residents are left bewildered.
For them, the justice system didn't work.
Is this another case of the CSI Effect?
Last year, researchers at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia named the phenomenon, said to be caused by the huge popularity of the CSI, or Crime Scene Investigation family of TV shows (CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York).
In the space of an hour (less than 50 minutes, actually) the actors come upon the scene of a crime, extract all the fibres and fluids within a square kilometre, then apply science and techniques that haven't even been in textbooks yet, and point the finger at the guilty party.
No fuss, no muss. It's all science. They even refer to themselves as scientists.
The real world is an entirely different matter.
'They're noticing that cases they might have won 10 years ago, they're losing now because jurors are saying, 'Where was the evidence? Where was the DNA evidence? Where was the fingerprint evidence? This is all anecdotal,''' said Veronica Stinson, one of the researchers.
Not to denigrate the qualifications of RCMP officers, but that could be the case here.
People -- potential jurors -- now have higher standards for evidence and a lower tolerance for imprecise results as a result of the show.
In the local crash last November, local residents spied what they thought was blood on a deployed airbag. Those who watch shows like CSI would naturally look for it as a source of evidence, to prove someone drove the car, caused the damage, then be convicted and serve time for the crime.
That didn't happen in this case. We don't know why. The RCMP, in its usual opaque manner, is reluctant to comment in detail on the facts of the charges, since they will never result in a conviction.
There's a good reason. The man accused of the crime could theoretically sue the force if some of that evidence were made public and called his innocence into question.
Everyone wants the justice system to protect the rights of the innocent. Some argue it's gone too far.
Our society has evolved, if that's the word, where every youngster learns to claim innocence when facing charges because the case might be thrown out of court at some point.
Admitting guilt -- taking responsibility for one's actions -- is not done anymore. There's always the possibility that a witness won't show up or evidence will be lost.
Some in Fort McMurray have now lost a degree of confidence in the police and the prosecution system. They saw what they thought was a crime with their eyes and now learn that no one will pay a fine or serve any time for the incident. (There was conviction for a couple of lesser offences.)
The no-fault zone only leads to speculation and ill will.
Because no one stepped forward and admitted responsibility, we're left with an increasing lack of respect for the law-- the existence of which is the only thing that divides us from tin-pot dictatorships.
It starts with licence-plate covers some buy to avoid photo radar tickets. They want to break the law -- speed with impunity -- without regard for the consequences.
Now we're faced with an unsolved crime that came close to killing local residents in their beds.
Where will it end?
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
There are a lot of disappointed residents in one Timberlea neighbourhood right now.
Some are so unhappy, they're thinking about moving.
No one is at fault, however.
The fault-free zone extends far and wide.
The courts failed to find fault with the person charged with a crash last November. Charges were laid against a local man, but they were dropped.
For their part, prosecutors and police deny any fault, too. Both arms of the government did their jobs, they told Today.
Local residents are left bewildered.
For them, the justice system didn't work.
Is this another case of the CSI Effect?
Last year, researchers at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia named the phenomenon, said to be caused by the huge popularity of the CSI, or Crime Scene Investigation family of TV shows (CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York).
In the space of an hour (less than 50 minutes, actually) the actors come upon the scene of a crime, extract all the fibres and fluids within a square kilometre, then apply science and techniques that haven't even been in textbooks yet, and point the finger at the guilty party.
No fuss, no muss. It's all science. They even refer to themselves as scientists.
The real world is an entirely different matter.
'They're noticing that cases they might have won 10 years ago, they're losing now because jurors are saying, 'Where was the evidence? Where was the DNA evidence? Where was the fingerprint evidence? This is all anecdotal,''' said Veronica Stinson, one of the researchers.
Not to denigrate the qualifications of RCMP officers, but that could be the case here.
People -- potential jurors -- now have higher standards for evidence and a lower tolerance for imprecise results as a result of the show.
In the local crash last November, local residents spied what they thought was blood on a deployed airbag. Those who watch shows like CSI would naturally look for it as a source of evidence, to prove someone drove the car, caused the damage, then be convicted and serve time for the crime.
That didn't happen in this case. We don't know why. The RCMP, in its usual opaque manner, is reluctant to comment in detail on the facts of the charges, since they will never result in a conviction.
There's a good reason. The man accused of the crime could theoretically sue the force if some of that evidence were made public and called his innocence into question.
Everyone wants the justice system to protect the rights of the innocent. Some argue it's gone too far.
Our society has evolved, if that's the word, where every youngster learns to claim innocence when facing charges because the case might be thrown out of court at some point.
Admitting guilt -- taking responsibility for one's actions -- is not done anymore. There's always the possibility that a witness won't show up or evidence will be lost.
Some in Fort McMurray have now lost a degree of confidence in the police and the prosecution system. They saw what they thought was a crime with their eyes and now learn that no one will pay a fine or serve any time for the incident. (There was conviction for a couple of lesser offences.)
The no-fault zone only leads to speculation and ill will.
Because no one stepped forward and admitted responsibility, we're left with an increasing lack of respect for the law-- the existence of which is the only thing that divides us from tin-pot dictatorships.
It starts with licence-plate covers some buy to avoid photo radar tickets. They want to break the law -- speed with impunity -- without regard for the consequences.
Now we're faced with an unsolved crime that came close to killing local residents in their beds.
Where will it end?
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
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