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CNN Saturday Morning News
Author Discusses Fictional Crime Investigation
Aired October 19, 2002 - 09:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, in just a matter of one hour's time, TV investigators can solve a crime and get the killer. But are the forensics in those shows really fact or just Hollywood fiction?
In her new book, "The Ice Maiden," author Edna Buchanan gives readers her eighth suspense thriller. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has 20 years of crime reporting experience with "The Miami Herald," and she joins us now live from Miami.
Edna, good to have you in this morning.
EDNA BUCHANAN, AUTHOR: Good morning.
KENNEDY: All right. I have to come clean right off the bat. I have three children, so I don't get to see a lot of the evening cop shows. But just how realistic are most of them?
BUCHANAN: Well, I think it's entertainment mostly with a smattering of forensics.
KENNEDY: So when you watch these, do you sort of roll your eyes and get a good chuckle?
BUCHANAN: Yes. They're not really very true to life in most cases. But, of course, they only have 48 minutes or so to solve the case. But for instance, DNA, they often will come back with a result in what seems to be a matter of minutes or hours. In the best possible circumstances, it takes 10 to 12 working days to get the results.
KENNEDY: So is there any truth to these?
BUCHANAN: Well, I think there are. And the good thing about it is that they create a demand. It's a case of life imitating art. They create the demand for new strides in technology. I think currently they're doing research on field tests that will give investigators much quicker results to DNA and...
KENNEDY: Why do you think Hollywood does this?
BUCHANAN: Well, it's entertaining. It gives people a good feeling to think that the good guys have all these weapons. The downside would be that it gives false expectations to juries and to the general public and sometimes to police officers who don't realize you can't really perform miracles in the lab, that mostly they will be able to zero in on a suspect and say, This is the right suspect or the wrong one.
They really can't solve the case and come up with a suspect.
KENNEDY: You know, a lot of shows, though, like "E.R.," went to a lot of trouble to give a true portrayal of the emergency rooms. Has -- have any of the cop shows done that?
BUCHANAN: Well, police officers' lives are 99 percent boredom and 1 percent panic, excitement, and confusion. And, of course, no one would watch it if that's what you showed, you know, if it was real to life.
KENNEDY: Right. We have a clip from a very popular show, "CSI," that we want to show you, and then we want to talk about it a little bit. Let's see that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got some fibers here, possibly secondary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This rope is identical to the rope around the victim's neck that was used as a handrail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, David. I've got a hair in the knot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY: All right. Tell me what we're seeing here.
BUCHANAN: Well, hair can't positively identify someone, unless, of course, the roots are there and there's DNA. And the crime scene investigator with the long hair, I wonder how many long strands of hair wind up among the evidence.
KENNEDY: Right, right.
BUCHANAN: Most who have long hair will pull it back, or many of them wear their hair short.
KENNEDY: Oops, that's mine. What are the common, do you think, what are the common misrepresentations that you see?
BUCHANAN: Well, that hair can positively identify someone. Sometimes you'll see them pick up with a pair of tweezers a hair and say, A ha! A pubic hair, and it looks like it's from a Caucasian. And, of course, you can't tell any of that except under a microscope in the lab. And it's becoming more difficult to identify them by race and by gender because of the intermingling of the races.
And they'll find a little bone chip where there are skeletal remains, and they'll hold it up and say, Oh, the -- they'll tell you right where in the spine this little bone came from. And only a forensic anthropologist can do that after much study in the lab.
KENNEDY: All right. Boy, I wish we had more time for this. It's awfully interesting. Edna Buchanan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former reporter with "The Miami Herald," thanks for coming in today.
BUCHANAN: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 19, 2002 - 09:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, in just a matter of one hour's time, TV investigators can solve a crime and get the killer. But are the forensics in those shows really fact or just Hollywood fiction?
In her new book, "The Ice Maiden," author Edna Buchanan gives readers her eighth suspense thriller. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has 20 years of crime reporting experience with "The Miami Herald," and she joins us now live from Miami.
Edna, good to have you in this morning.
EDNA BUCHANAN, AUTHOR: Good morning.
KENNEDY: All right. I have to come clean right off the bat. I have three children, so I don't get to see a lot of the evening cop shows. But just how realistic are most of them?
BUCHANAN: Well, I think it's entertainment mostly with a smattering of forensics.
KENNEDY: So when you watch these, do you sort of roll your eyes and get a good chuckle?
BUCHANAN: Yes. They're not really very true to life in most cases. But, of course, they only have 48 minutes or so to solve the case. But for instance, DNA, they often will come back with a result in what seems to be a matter of minutes or hours. In the best possible circumstances, it takes 10 to 12 working days to get the results.
KENNEDY: So is there any truth to these?
BUCHANAN: Well, I think there are. And the good thing about it is that they create a demand. It's a case of life imitating art. They create the demand for new strides in technology. I think currently they're doing research on field tests that will give investigators much quicker results to DNA and...
KENNEDY: Why do you think Hollywood does this?
BUCHANAN: Well, it's entertaining. It gives people a good feeling to think that the good guys have all these weapons. The downside would be that it gives false expectations to juries and to the general public and sometimes to police officers who don't realize you can't really perform miracles in the lab, that mostly they will be able to zero in on a suspect and say, This is the right suspect or the wrong one.
They really can't solve the case and come up with a suspect.
KENNEDY: You know, a lot of shows, though, like "E.R.," went to a lot of trouble to give a true portrayal of the emergency rooms. Has -- have any of the cop shows done that?
BUCHANAN: Well, police officers' lives are 99 percent boredom and 1 percent panic, excitement, and confusion. And, of course, no one would watch it if that's what you showed, you know, if it was real to life.
KENNEDY: Right. We have a clip from a very popular show, "CSI," that we want to show you, and then we want to talk about it a little bit. Let's see that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got some fibers here, possibly secondary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This rope is identical to the rope around the victim's neck that was used as a handrail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, David. I've got a hair in the knot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY: All right. Tell me what we're seeing here.
BUCHANAN: Well, hair can't positively identify someone, unless, of course, the roots are there and there's DNA. And the crime scene investigator with the long hair, I wonder how many long strands of hair wind up among the evidence.
KENNEDY: Right, right.
BUCHANAN: Most who have long hair will pull it back, or many of them wear their hair short.
KENNEDY: Oops, that's mine. What are the common, do you think, what are the common misrepresentations that you see?
BUCHANAN: Well, that hair can positively identify someone. Sometimes you'll see them pick up with a pair of tweezers a hair and say, A ha! A pubic hair, and it looks like it's from a Caucasian. And, of course, you can't tell any of that except under a microscope in the lab. And it's becoming more difficult to identify them by race and by gender because of the intermingling of the races.
And they'll find a little bone chip where there are skeletal remains, and they'll hold it up and say, Oh, the -- they'll tell you right where in the spine this little bone came from. And only a forensic anthropologist can do that after much study in the lab.
KENNEDY: All right. Boy, I wish we had more time for this. It's awfully interesting. Edna Buchanan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former reporter with "The Miami Herald," thanks for coming in today.
BUCHANAN: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
