Forensic Animation Wins in the Court

Forensic Animation is a computerized reproduction at 30 frames per second of an event that took place and used when there are few witnesses. If the litigation is complex and needs to be broken down visually for the jurors, Forensic Animation can spell it out for them. Forensic Animation is very useful to legal cases but it caught on slowly because of the expense to produce the animation. The Forensic Animators can describe several views of an accident or crime. An animated view could go a long way to secure a win in the courtroom.

A tragic plane crash occurred in 1985 when a Delta plane attempted to land and found itself in a wind vortex. The outcome was 137 people dead and considerable property damage. The legal case was an incredible fight over who would be responsible to pay almost $200 million for illicit deaths in the crash and property loss.


The case involved the FAA and the National Weather Service for neglecting to alert the crew of the imminent weather they were about to encounter. This case was the premier case to use animation in the court. When the facts are complicated or issues are of a scientific or mechanical nature; these things have an inclination to confuse jurors. The advent of Forensic Animation made complicated events and movements very clear, showing different perspectives of the incident.

1985 was the first year forensic animation was used and it is important to mark this case was won by the US Government declaring forensic animation as being the turning point to a clearer understanding of the facts. It has been observed this visual technique makes more than an impression on the court; it’s a winning tool for attorneys.

What kind of cost is associated with forensic animation? In the beginning it was extremely expensive. Since it is now an accepted practice and software has been created to use on the desk top, the expense has come down but is still costly enough at around $5k per minute of animation. It’s hard to give an exact cost because all animations are custom built and cost ranges from $3K to 30K. A lawyer must ask, ''Is it worth the cost to win?'' Observers have noted there is a significant advantage when employing Forensic Animation in court. Jurors say they feel more like witnesses to the event and this is appealing to their understanding of the facts. It becomes real in their minds as if they were part of the experience.

Forensic Animation is typically contracted to help with the litigation. The animator works with eye witnesses or written records to recreate the scene. One of the leading businesses in the field is FAI (Forensic Animation Imaging). FAI touts it’s animation has 100% admissibility into the courtroom. Through time proven results over the last 20 years and lower costs to develop the animation why wouldn’t an attorney use Forensic Animation? Forensic Animators currently work on contract and the future looks good as the field morphs into the market with better software at lower cost to produce the animation. Colleges now offer a four year degree in Forensic Animation. Forensic Animation, which has moved into the legal profession in the twenty-first century, can be an important path to a successful case.