Category Archives: Forensics myths

An Expert’s View on DNA Evidence

Posted on by

Finding DNA

 

NPR recently posted an interesting story entitled “Analysing The Evidence On DNA.” Ira Flatow interviewed Greg Hampikian, Director of the Idaho Innocence Project, about the uses and abuses of DNA evidence. The topics that they discussed include:

  • problems with DNA evidence collection,
  • advantages and disadvantages of the high sensitivity of modern DNA analysis,
  • use of DNA evidence in investigations, and
  • myths about evidence analysis perpetuated by TV shows.

The interview is definitely worth a look (or a listen).

A Real Forensic Scientist

Posted on by
How to contaminate evidence

How to contaminate evidence: No coveralls, no gloves, no booties, and no sense.

 

The website of the Toronto Star has interesting profile of Christine McCarthy, a forensic scientist at Toronto’s Centre for Forensic Sciences. In the July 13, 2012, posting entitled “Hair: Forensic scientists can tell a lot about a person from one strand of hair,” reporter Tony Wong describes McCarthy at work.

In the field, she dons a disposable lab coat, mask, gloves, and a hairnet before she starts her search for trace evidence. This is a very different approach than that used by crime scene technicians on television. Wong compared McCarthy to CSI’s Catherine Willows. “Except I wouldn’t have a Hummer or wear high heels on the job,” McCarthy told him.

She mentioned another of the many differences between CSI characters and her colleagues at the Centre for Forensic Sciences. “They seem to solve everything in an hour,” McCarthy said, “and I can tell you it takes a lot longer than that.”

McCarthy specializes in the analysis of trace evidence, especially hair. Wong’s article offers an overview about this aspect of forensic science.

Avoid the Parallel Worlds of TV Forensics

Posted on by
A compromised crime scene.

Where’s the medical examiner’s agent? Who contaminated the body by draping it with the blanket? Has anyone collected trace evidence yet?

 

Anyone who watches CSI and other forensics-based series might imagine that forensic scientists live glamorous lives. They work in labs illuminated by mood lighting, where they need an hour or less to generate exciting data using complex analyses. Who needs specialists? A TV forensic scientist can perform any type of test. In between quickie lab tests with equipment sure to burst any local government budget, forensic experts speed to crime scenes in their Hummers. They arrest suspects, interrogate them, and saunter back to their labs. All of this is a reflection of reality – an alternate reality, that is.

Beware of misconceptions created and perpetuated by TV shows and films. Lee Lofland, a veteran police investigator, writer and consultant, serves up “10 Forensic Myths Spread by TV,” which is posted on his website. It’s a good place to start separating fact and fiction.