By Michael A. Fuoco
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — So popular is CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and other similar procedural shows that their impact has morphed from purely fictional entertainment to real-life crime and punishment.
Prosecutors in the nation’s courts daily must battle the so-called “CSI effect” -- the phenomenon that has raised the expectations of crime victims and juries about the power of forensic science in solving crimes. The expectation now is that real-life crime scene analysts should always be able to find the proverbial smoking gun even though, in real life, forensic evidence always isn’t present or as clear as it is on TV.
The CSI effect and ways that forensic professionals and creators of forensic science pop culture can learn from and contribute to each other’s work will be addressed this week at a symposium, “Where Fact Meets Fiction: A National Symposium on the Intersection of Forensic Science and Pop Culture” at Duquesne University.
Presented by the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and the Duquesne University School of Law in collaboration with the Pittsburgh 250 initiative, the conference will be held Thursday through Saturday in the school’s Power Center Ballroom.
Among those participating in the examination of forensic science and pop culture will be the people who create forensic TV shows, mystery novels and true-crime books as well as the real-life forensic scientists, criminal attorneys and others whose work serves as the basis for the books and shows.
Some of those who will attend include:
— David Berman and Jon Wellner, writers, researchers and actors on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” On the show, Mr. Berman plays assistant coroner David “Super Dave” Phillips and Mr. Wellner plays toxicologist Henry Andrews.
— Robert Tanenbaum, author and a former homicide prosecutor.
— Karen T. Taylor, a forensic artist whose work has been featured on network and cable television.
— Andrew Wilder, writer for the TV show “Criminal Minds,” and James T. Clemente, writer and supervisory special agent in the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit.
— E. Michael McCann, who prosecuted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
— Jan Burke, an Edgar Award-winning crime novelist.
Copyright 2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette