Courtroom 3D Evidence
A jury is asked to understand a scene from photographs, a sketch and testimony. Each one is an interpretation, and a defence expert will say so.
A 3D scan is the scene itself, measured. Shown as a model, a sightline or a fly-through, it is understood in seconds — and both sides can measure the same file.
No sensitive case details required.
What does a 3D scan add in court?
A measured model of the scene the jury can be walked through — positions, distances and sightlines shown rather than described — and that opposing experts can examine on the same data.
Understood at onceA jury sees the room, not a floor plan.
Measured, not drawnEvery distance is taken from data, not a sketch.
Same file, both sidesThe defence expert measures what the prosecution measured.
Answers in courtA new question is answered from the model during the trial.
Why a measured scene changes what happens in the courtroom
Scene evidence traditionally reaches a jury as photographs, a scaled sketch and an officer's account. The jury assembles the scene in their heads, differently each. Cross-examination attacks the sketch's scale, the photograph's angle, the witness's memory of a distance.
A 3D scan replaces that assembly with the scene itself: a model in which every point has a measured position. It is shown as a view from a witness's stated position, as a sightline from a doorway, as a fly-through, as a printed exhibit. When a new question arises during trial — could the witness have seen the door from there? — the answer is measured from the model, not argued.
What makes it defensible is method: a device with stated accuracy, capture parameters logged, processing documented, and a file the opposing expert examines independently. Artec Ray II and Artec Leo record scenes at stated accuracies; Artec Studio keeps the raw scans and the processing history in the project.
From model to exhibit
Capture and processing are covered on their own pages. This is what happens between a finished model and the exhibit list.
1. Fix the questionsWhat the jury must understand: positions, distances, what could be seen from where.- 2. Measure on the modelEach answer as a measurement, with the method and the tool recorded.
- 3. Choose the medium per questionA still view, a sightline, a fly-through, a section or a printed model — whichever the question needs.
4. Disclose the model earlyThe file to the other side before trial, so the exhibit surprises nobody.- 5. Rehearse the challengeEvery exhibit traceable to the file, every figure to the device specification.
Which scanner for this work
The devices behind the exhibit — with the accuracy figures that will be asked about.
Artec Ray II
- Best for
- The scene as a whole
- Accuracy
- 1.9 mm at 10 m
- Range
- 0.5–130 m
- Scan time
- About 1.7 minutes for a full dome
- Portability
- Wireless, tripod-mounted
Ray II records rooms, buildings and outdoor scenes from a tripod with stated accuracy of 1.9 mm at 10 metres, in about 1.7 minutes per dome. The whole scene, measured, is the exhibit.
Artec Leo
- Best for
- Detail and evidence in position
- 3D point accuracy
- Up to 0.1 mm
- 3D resolution
- Up to 0.2 mm
- Capture
- Wireless, screen and processing onboard
- Capture speed
- 35 million points per second
Leo records bodies, vehicles and individual items at up to 0.1 mm, registered into the scene, so a detail the jury needs to see is shown in its measured place.
See how a scanned scene becomes an exhibit a jury reads in seconds — book a demo for your unit.
Book a demoQuestions practitioners ask
Is 3D scan evidence admissible?
Admissibility is decided by the court under its own rules and depends on method, qualification and disclosure, as with any technical evidence. Scan data has been used in courts in many jurisdictions; what makes it defensible is a documented, repeatable method.
How is it shown to a jury?
As still views, measured sightlines, a fly-through, or a printed model — produced from the same dataset in Artec Studio or in the presentation software your unit uses.
Can the defence examine the data?
Yes, and that is part of its strength. The file is disclosed; the opposing expert measures the same model and either agrees with the measurement or explains why not.
What if a new question comes up during trial?
It is answered from the model — a distance, a sightline, a position — rather than from memory or a return to a scene that no longer exists.
Tell us about the work you do
A forensic application specialist will come back with the device that fits it, the accuracy to expect at that scale, and how the data reaches your existing workflow.