California Suspects Are Most Likely To Display 'Disgust' In Mugshots, Study Says

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — California suspects are more visibly disgusted by their arrests than suspects in other states, a study of mugshots conducted by an Encino law firm has found.

Analyzing 30,000 mugshots from across the country with Microsoft Cognitive Services software, the Aizman Law Firm found that suspects exhibit a wide range of emotions in their mugshots, including sadness, contempt, anger, surprise, disgust and fear.

But to the firm's surprise, more than half of the analyzed suspects looked happy.

"For the most part, what we found was a bunch of cheerful suspected offenders, grinning fiercely at the camera, happy as can be," the study said.

By comparison, only one percent of mugshots exhibited "disgust," the study found. One way to identify a disgusted suspect was by whether the suspect was wrinkling his or her nose.

California led the pack among disgusted suspects. Common causes of arrest among suspects displaying disgust were arrests related to gang activity, weapons, unlawful transaction with a minor, kidnapping and traffic offenses.

"The state with the most disgusted suspects is California, home of Los Angeles – a city known for its gangs," the study said.

California suspects also ranked second in displaying "anger" in their mugshots. Suspects displaying "anger" were likely to have been arrested for the same reasons as suspects displaying "disgust," except trespassing replaced kidnapping among the top five alleged offenses.