This paper will review the CSI episode sixteen “The Last Ride” from season fifteen and discuss discrepancies with standard scientific procedures. The two issues that will be discussed are the glass shard identification from the Packard and the DNA sample from the fingerprint. However, overall the methods and techniques used throughout the show were flawed, and the evidence seemed contrived with very little actual detective work being done to establish connections between the parties involved.
Episode Summary The episode begins with the discovery of the body of a woman covered in silver paint. She had a laceration at the base of her skull which seemed to be the apparent cause of death. While examining the body the CSI discovered a glass shard…show more content… There were multiple instances of the team collecting evidence without tagging them with an item number, using any type of measurement devices, or appearing to put any of the samples in a container. They were careful to photograph everything, but were disorganized in the process of how it was done. They photographed items as they collected the samples. Also, the CSI members were doing the photographing of the scene, interviewing suspects, collecting evidence, and analyzing evidence which is contrary to how things are really done. Additionally, the medical examiner did not create a mold of the head-wound or appear to have any interest in linking the head-wound to the scene other than remarking that there was blood on the hood ornament. However, even though the CSI photographed the blood on the ornament, they did not take a sample of the blood. There was no apparent link between the broken heel and the victim other than the residue that linked the scene to her storage unit. There were so many things that were overlooked or exaggerated that it was difficult to choose two specific items for further analysis. Due to this difficulty I decided to use the single piece of evidence linking the car to the victim which led them to the crime scene, and the fingerprint because of the glaring flaws in its…show more content… While I was unable to find any information regarding how headlights were made or how the composition of the glass might have changed in the 1940s, I was able to find information about glass comparison techniques used in forensics. According to the FBI website, an examiner would need to compare the shard from the body with an exemplar from the source to determine a match. Even glass from the same factory or source could have variances between them making it difficult to match without comparison to the actual item and other shards of comparable size (Bottrell,
