Goofs

The writers admitted to taking some creative liberties to make the show more engaging:

• In reality, CSIs don't investigate crimes or conduct interviews-they simply collect and analyze evidence.
• They do so while wearing booties and "bunny suits" (a full white body covering, including a hood) to prevent cross-contamination.
• The writers also cut out much of the waiting time for results and bent the science to keep the pace exciting. As a result, the CSIs often receive evidence results that would be impossible in real life.

This has contributed to the so-called "CSI Effect," where juries come to expect a mountain of forensic evidence in every criminal case.

"The CSI Effect": Numerous times, autopsies are conducted by people who were wearing the same clothes they wore in the field. Not only does this promote cross-contamination, but it is also highly unsanitary as well as an OSHA violation.

When the CSI's and detectives are interviewing someone or working crime scenes, they are never seen taking notes or sketching the crime scene. Real CSI's and detectives are constantly taking notes and sketching. The notes and sketches are so important that they are occasionally booked into evidence to ensure the originals will be available for review before trial.

The CSI's often discuss elements of their cases openly in front of people who they have just questioned. This would not occur in real life as they would risk having the person who overheard them potentially contact someone who might be a suspect.

When the CSI's and detectives want to "bring in" or "pick up" someone for questioning, they are usually located instantly. That might work if they had a consistent schedule they followed faithfully every day, but there are few people who do that. Even with the invention and advancements of GPS and smartphones making it easier to locate suspects it should not be as simple as is portrayed in the series.

The characters of Nick Stokes and Sara Sidal consistently pronounce Nevada as "NeVAHda", something a real Nevadan would never do.

However, they're not Nevadans: Nick is a Texan and Sara is a Californian.

Many times during different episodes you can see people that are supposed to be dead breathing or moving.