STATISTICIANS frequently argue that their discipline is misrepresented in
court. There is clearly a potential for judges and juries to be confused by big,
impressive-sounding stats. But are courts often misled by the subtle use of
numbers?
There are no published figures, but statisticians say such instances are
common in both civil and criminal trials. “When I was in court a lot in the
mid-1990s, it used to happen all the time, in all kinds of cases,” says David
Balding, professor of statistical genetics at Imperial College, London.
When O. J. Simpson was on trial for murder, for example, the…
