3D-printing the Skull – can it help to catch the criminal?
January 2020 News and Views
Written by: Harry Carr
Original paper: 31811378
In “The effect of different imaging techniques for the visualisation of evidence in court on jury comprehension”, Errickson et al. describe how the use of 3D-printed anatomical models may extend to the criminal courtroom.
Background
Errickson et al. propose that in certain criminal cases, images and physical remains of the deceased may be distressing to the jury, evoking an emotional response that may cloud their judgement and rationality. The authors examined whether the use of 3D-printed replicas instead could improve the accuracy with which a jury makes decisions by removing this potential emotional clouding.
Methods
A mock trial was held in which the suspicious death of a man was heard. The jury was formed from 91 recruited participants (mostly college student, as is often the case in legal research). It was the jury’s responsibility decide whether there was sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant had pushed the deceased from a height, or that it had been an accidental fall.
Jurors were randomly assigned to and presented with only one of either:
The deceased’s physical skull,
A high-quality photograph of the skull,
A 3D-scan-reconstructed, 3D-printed model of the skull.
Jurors then answered a questionnaire which asked them to decide the verdict and assessed their confidence in their decision and understanding of technical language used in the trial.
A: Photograph, B: 3D-reconstruction, C: 3D-printed replica of the cranium from Stanground South, Peterborough. (Source: Errickson et al.,2019)
Results
Errickson et al., found no statistically significant differences between all three evidence bases in terms of how they affected verdict accuracy (p = 0.061) and comprehension of evidence (p = 0.784).
The authors therefore concluded that 3D-printed models could be a useful substitute for physical remains or digital photographs in the context of criminal trials. However, further work is needed to establish under what contexts it might actually be useful, given that 3D-printing technology has its own limitations.