How true crime stories are influencing the real-life justice system
Documentaries and podcasts, including Serial, have spurred a cultural fascination with the genre
For better and worse, a rebirth in our cultural fascination with true crime — spurred, in part, by the launch of the hit podcast Serial a decade ago — has led to changes in the criminal justice system, legal experts say.
"You definitely see prosecutors, judges, criminal defence attorneys all being very cognizant of true crime," Adam Banner, a criminal defence attorney in Oklahoma, told The Sunday Magazine's Piya Chattopadhyay.
Some who work in and study the legal system say it's changed how professionals approach cases, while also leading to a rise in amateur sleuths attempting to solve their own cases.
Banner says that true crime storytelling can be helpful in exposing flaws within the criminal justice system.
"When you have situations where an individual is incarcerated for years or decades, and then you see justice served in the back end because of the scrutiny that maybe a true crime documentary provided, that's very beautiful to see," Banner said.
"The negative impact of it is the fact that to get to that beautiful part, somebody had to suffer [and] get the bad end of the stick for quite a long time."
Podcasts and documentaries have had an impact on cold cases.
David Ridgen, host of the CBC true crime podcast Someone Knows Something, has reopened cases that led to an indictment, a conviction and several arrests. In the podcast's latest season, Ridgen recounts his investigation into the 1993 disappearance of Ontario teenager Christine Harron, which eventually led to the killer's conviction and arrest in 2016.
Other titles in the popular genre include documentaries such as The Central Park Five and The Menendez Brothers, and the TV series Making a Murderer and The Jinx.
However, Banner says he's also concerned that true crime's use of certain tropes to tell compelling narratives affects perceptions of the criminal justice system.
He says the genre focuses on outlier situations — cases that feature the "unresolved nature of the crime," the "grisly or more so shocking nature of the criminal conduct" and "extensive media coverage."
But Banner says if only exceptional cases are held to account by the media, it could lead to public distrust in the justice system.
"That is very damaging for the credibility of the criminal justice system."
True crime's impact on the system
Danielle Robitaille, a managing partner and criminal litigator in Toronto, says she also has "mixed feelings about society's fascination with true crime."
While the genre has brought much-needed attention to issues like systemic racism, flawed police work and the effect of injustice on real-life cases, she says it has led to a "voyeuristic fascination with tragedy" that can desensitize audiences to the real human suffering that underlies these stories.
When it comes to the courtroom, she says she has seen a shift in day-to-day proceedings with a "healthy skepticism" toward police and prosecutors, which she attributes to the popularity of true crime content.
Previously, she says judges and jurors typically trusted the word of law enforcement, but now there is greater criticism and questioning of whether authorities have done their due diligence in proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, Banner has also seen increased scrutiny on the system influence how prosecutors approach their work.
They may feel the need to "overcorrect" if they're worried a case "could turn into something that is true crime worthy," he said.
"A prosecutor might come down harder on a case," Banner said, "because they don't want hindsight to come back and bite them, and an audience or production team … to cast them in a light that they don't want to be cast in."
Changes to access to information
Another effect of the true crime boom has been the rise of amateur sleuthing, where members of the public engage in their own investigations, says Robitaille.
In the U.S., records of police investigations and court cases are much more accessible, allowing amateur investigators to delve deep into cases, she says.
Robitaille says greater public participation in the legal system can be valuable. Citizen involvement in cases has not only influenced the outcomes of some cases in Canada and the U.S., it can help legal professionals gauge what an average juror would have to say about a criminal case.
In Canada, however, access to these records is more restricted, making it difficult for people to get involved.
"I think that can cause people to think about whether the Canadian system needs to open up and become more transparent, in the way that we see the American system," Robitaille said.
Banner stresses the importance of ongoing mandatory legal ethics education for those handling criminal cases, focusing on how to manage interactions with both the media and clients.
He says that public education of the criminal justice system, including statistics and details about how cases typically unfold and resolve, is needed.
Dawn K. Cecil, a criminology professor at the University of South Florida and author of Fear, Justice and Modern True Crime, agrees.
As more people turn to media representations for their understanding of crime and justice, she suggests that one way the system could respond is by contributing its own perspective to the narrative.
Reflecting on the impact of Serial, which sparked Cecil's own interest in true crime, she says it's played a pivotal role in shaping the true crime genre.
"We're starting to see more and more people interested in trying to change the system."
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Audio produced by Brianna Gosse