Extra Credit 1: "The Real CSI" (1 hour)

Brendan Forte

The Real CSI

Summary

            Forensic science is not what it looks like on television. This episode of “The Real CSI” on PBS goes into detail about real forensic science cases. It shows courtroom presentations, and goes behind the scenes in real situations involving Crime Scene Investigation. Two examples talked about are the Casey Anthony case, and the investigation of a Madrid terrorist bombing.

            Many people are interviewed throughout this documentary as well. Some are even individuals who have made convictions of innocent people accidentally due to wrong analyzing of evidence. Have you ever heard people say “No two people have the same fingerprint”? In this documentary you see how that can go wrong and the reasons why it may not be scientifically proven. Evidence in crime scenes, are analyzed very carefully and if it is not used properly, murderers can be left on the streets. This is “The Real CSI”.

Body

            The documentary started off with a case involving a terrorist bombing in Madrid. There was a bomb set off in a subway that killed thousands. The Madrid CSI found fingerprints on a bag of detonators that were looked at carefully. Many forensic scientists agreed that the fingerprints belonged to a man named Brandon Mayfield who served in the military. Days after being arrested, and convicted of committing this crime, Brandon was told that they found the real man who did it. The scientists who looked at the fingerprints were wrong. Although there were sixteen matching points, the fingerprints belonged to a different man. The partial fingerprints found were not enough evidence, and an innocent man could have been put in jail for something he did not do.

            In the trial of Casey Anthony, there was a different situation. Thirty-one days after her 3 year-old baby went “missing”, she contacted the police. There was plenty of evidence found, but no witnesses. Was she the killer of her own child? Many trials were held to decide if she was guilty or not. There were many investigators who say she was clearly guilty from many pieces of evidence found. In the end, she was proven not guilty. Recently, I learned that the Florida county FBI overlooked evidence that showed on the day she claimed to leave, someone in her home searched “fool-proof suffocation”. Due to double jeopardy she cannot be re-tried, but does this change the mind of the people who proved her not guilty? I think it does.

Geography

            With CSI, geography can be important in certain cases. These are two examples, but crimes occur so often, and location and areas are an important factor used with evidence. Brandon Mayfield lived in Washington County, Oregon. In 2004 he was convicted of the Madrid train bombings. The bombings occurred in Spain in the city of Madrid. Casey Anthony lived in Orlando, Florida. The missing babies remains were found near her home on the edge of Anthony’s neighborhood about 10 miles southeast of downtown Orlando.

Demography

            Crime scene investigation takes many things into account. Populations of areas and the people living in a certain area can be important information when analyzing data. An example of this was when a man presented the same exact fingerprints to the person who claimed Brandon Mayfield was guilty. Only this time, he changed the back round information of the case. In four out of five times, the person analyzing them said they did not match. Before the back round information as changed, they said they were 100% right about the match of the prints. This shows that other information about the people being looked at, may influence the decision of some scientists.

Economics

            Economics was not directly talked about in this documentary, but it is still very important in forensics. For example, the economic status of a person may determine how good of lawyer they may get. Also, more money can help forensic teams do more research. More research can lead to more accurate results.

Culture

            Culture, or beliefs have a great impact on people. In our culture, there are many T.V. shows that people watch that show forensic science cases to be solved within a day or two. We make CSI look more quick and easier that what it really is. Realistically, it is humans putting together evidence to see if they can match the person to the crime and mistakes may occur.

Politics

 Although it is not mentioned a lot in the documentary, politics can influence CSI. For example, criminal prosecution may vary based on where the crime took place. In the United States, there are laws that keep our nation in control. When someone violates a law, agencies such as crime scene investigators are called in to find out who did it, what they did, and how they should be punished. Different governments have different laws based on what the crime was and what the punishment should be. Also, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is a government agency that receives an annual budget of about $8 billion to protect the nation from attacks, political corruption, white collar crime, organized crime, cyber crime and more. In all, politics does have a large role when crimes occur because Federal agencies are used to find, and punish the criminal and keep them off the streets. 

My Opinion

            This documentary was very good. I am interested in the forensic science field. I believe it was amazing when people are caught based off of evidence found and analyzed. I also love shows that include this topic such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Bones etc. I liked how in this episode, it explained behind the scenes of what forensics is all about, and mistakes that can go wrong. I learned from this, and I think more people should be aware of it.

Bibliography

Frontline, The real csi. N.p., 2012. Web. Aired 17 April, 2012.  <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/real-csi/>.