Factual error: Calleigh Duquesne frequently wears completely inappropriate clothing throughout the whole series. She often wears blouses that are so low cut that the neckline is below the lower curve of her breasts. No officer of the court in the US would be allowed to dress this way. There is no grey area here, and this is not a character mistake - first time a CSI turned up at work dressed like that, she'd be sent home to change. Second time, she'd be on suspension until she agreed to change her dress standards. Also (and this regularly happens in CSI: NY as well) she is regularly wearing high heels - also a certain no-no for as CSI. Incidentally, male CSIs have equally strict dress standards.
Factual error: Iodine-131 does not decay to normal Iodine. It decays to a stable isotope of the noble gas Xenon.
Factual error: Horatio and Detective Tripp refer to Redfish only being able to be caught in one place around Miami - "Mosquito Lagoon." First, Mosquito Lagoon is not in Miami, it is several hundred miles north, and secondly, there are plenty of places to catch Redfish around Miami. I used to live there. (00:12:30)
Factual error: During a interview, Tripp tells a suspect that he helped loosen the lug nuts on a police vehicle. However, when they flash to show the lug nuts being loosened, the actor is turning the lug wrench from left to right which would in fact tighten the lug nuts. (00:29:10)
Factual error: Toward the end of the episode, they state that one of the sisters had a vaccine for visiting Africa, specifically Dengue Fever. To date, 2014, there is no vaccine for Dengue Fever. You can only spray for mosquitoes or use repellent against them. (00:39:00)
Factual error: In the episode originally aired on 10/24/05 entitled 'Under Suspicion' Walter Dresden's DNA was positively linked to a murder in Orlando. Even if the judge dismissed the case against him in Miami, he would have been transported to Orlando to stand trial for that crime, not simply released.
Factual error: When Nikki is found dead, electrocuted in her bath by having a tanning lamp thrown into the water with her, the lamp is shown as being on, fully lit, and mysterious blue electric lights are playing about around it. However, when the CSI crew enter the room they note that the safety on the plug tripped instantly - 'just not in time'. There should have been no power to the lamp, then.
Factual error: Every time the investigators deal with IP-addresses, the addresses on display are impossible. Each of the four parts of an IP-address has to be between 0 and 255. This isn't equivalent to the movie-specific 555 area code for phone numbers - having an IP address outside that range is like having a phone number which includes the % symbol - it's just impossible.
Factual error: Using a Draeger tube to test for nitric acid fume, the instrument made a clicking sound. This device does not click. The bellows pump is squeezed drawing air through the tube. A reaction takes place between the air contaminant and the material in the tube causing a color change. The length of stain is proportional to the concentration.
Factual error: Nitric acid is a liquid and not a gas. The gaseous precurser is NO2 which combines with water forming nitric acid, HNO3. Neither causes instant death.
Factual error: I-131 (or any radioactive material) "at the end of its half life" does not instantly become non-radioactive, as was depicted in this episode. Radioactive decay is a continuous process; the half-life has no "beginning", but tells you how much time after "now" for however much is there at any time "now" to be reduced to one half that amount. Wait enough half-lives and the amount will fall to an inconsequential amount, but one is never enough.
Factual error: As the firemen are putting out the fire, the water heater explodes, becoming a flying projectile. But you can see that the pilot light is still lit. The fire department would have immediately had all the gas to the home turned off, and the pilot would have gone out.
Factual error: Firstly, I-131 has an eight day half life. It is thus impossible that she is poisoned on day 1 (a dose enough to kill her), and then the following day there is no detectable rad. reading at the source. The eight day half-life also comes into play with the hand that becomes "neutralized" to radioactivity. Secondly, the discussion re: alpha, beta, and gamma radiation is true, however if breathed/ingested, I'd sure rather it be a gamma emitter than an alpha emitter, as alphas will deposit more energy (this is contrary to what was stated).
Factual error: One of the police officers makes a comment about an unregistered firearm. Firearms don't need to be registered in Florida.
Factual error: After Horatio shoots out a window in the lab everyone starts waking up immediately, it would take much longer than one second for the gas to leave that size of a room and the people's systems.
Factual error: The stock footage of the bull shark is actually of a Great White.
Factual error: During many of the episodes, we often see an overhead shot one of the CSI agents in the Hummer speeding down the Miami (or Los Angeles, where it is filmed) highway systems to a crime scene or what not. If you pay close attention, there is almost never any other traffic on the highways besides them. Very unlikely if not impossible, especially in Miami (or Los Angeles).
Factual error: In the scene in the lab where they notice the porn actress's wisdom teeth have not erupted yet, they show her lower jaw with the wisdom tooth just under the gum, but say it is 5 cm under the gum. I don't know about you but if my wisdom tooth was 5 centimetres under the gum, it would be hanging out the bottom of my jaw. (FYI, 5 cm is almost 2 inches.)
Going Under - S5-E2
Factual error: When Eric and Ryan are talking about the motor oil and how the wear and tear on the engine make the motor oil unique to the bike. The oil left on the gun would not have matched the oil in the bike any longer since they were still being ridden and the engine would have still been depositing metal into the oil.
Factual error: (Episode: Sun Block) At the beginning of the episode, all the pool patrons are watching an eclipse, the sky darkens and they watch as the moon passes in front of the sun. The process, from the moon first beginning to touch the sun's disc to total eclipse occurs in approximately one minute. It is impossible for an eclipse to happen that quickly; it would take at least an hour to complete the process shown.
