Evaluating the impact of different formats in the presentation of trauma evidence in court: a pilot study

Abstract

The ways in which experts present their findings in criminal courts can potentially influence how that evidence is understood by members of the court. A pilot survey of 60 men and women, of different ages, and from different legal and non-legal backgrounds, compared multiple formats of evidence presentation to gauge comprehension of that evidence. The addition of visual aids significantly improved the comprehension of verbal evidence. The combination of verbal presentation and a three dimension (3D) print of the skull was best understood by the majority of participants (93%), followed by verbal description and a photograph of the 3D print (80%) and verbal description with autopsy photographs of the injuries (71%).

Keywords:

• Skeletal trauma
• court
• expert evidence
• types of evidence
• 3D printing understanding
• comprehension

Acknowledgements

The authors thank: all of the participants who consented to take part in the survey; 3D Medical Ltd for providing the 3D print of the skull, Professor David Ranson (Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine) for assistance with the short videos that were used in the study; Dr Kristy Martire (University of New South Wales) for discussions about research design, and Karen Byrne (Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine) for producing the photographs of the 3D printed skull.

Ethics approval to undertake this research was provided by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Research Advisory Committee (RAC 005/15).

Notes

1. It should be noted that forensic medical experts are also increasingly using volume rendered CT images rather than photographs of the 3D printed model.