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: 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: 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: CSIs in real life are not police detectives, nor are they beat cops. Crime Scene Investigators are just that: they're regular people, some with 4-year-bachelor's° in STEM fields, others completing Criminology Associate's degrees, who are ONLY responsible for investigating and gathering evidence at crime scenes and then serving as expert witnesses in court. In fact, they spend more time in court testifying of the evidence they collected than anywhere else. They don't interrogate suspects, nor do they chase them down and arrest them.
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: Iodine-131 does not decay to normal Iodine. It decays to a stable isotope of the noble gas Xenon.
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: 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).
Double Cap - S1-E19
Factual error: During their investigation, the CSIs learn, through a number of phone calls she made to her mother, that their murder victim was in the Witness Protection Program. Contacting family members is one of the cardinal sins of WITSEC; she would have been immediately relocated with another new identity, and not left in a city where people who want her dead know where she is.
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: The stock footage of the bull shark is actually of a Great White.
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.)
Factual error: As the funeral procession is going to bury Speedle, they pass by Pacific National Bank, which is not in Florida, but in California where the series is filmed. (00:40:00)
Factual error: Error takes place in the last few minutes of the episode when Medical Examiner Dr. Alexx Woods responds to the scene of a DUI with two deaths. The Miami-Dade County officer on scene tells her that she may know one of the victims, since the victim had a M.E. pass on the rearview. You can see that his radio, which we assume is department issue, has the logo on the lapel microphone of "SJM Industrial Radio" a radio rental and service shop based out of El Segundo, CA. Why would a police department in Florida rent radios from a radio shop in California? Guess they overlooked the logo when they decided to rent radios locally since the majority of all outdoor scenes are filmed in Long Beach, California, as well as portions of Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach.
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: Delko would not be able to work on the case, since he was present at the robbery and thus an eyewitness. An eyewitness who fired his gun at that. He would have been dismissed from the case.
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.
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: At the end of the episode when Caine and Delko discover a bomb in the SUV, Delko asks if they should try disarming it, to which Caine replies there isn't enough time. Caine gets in the vehicle and proceeds to drive it away with about three and a half minutes to go before the bomb detonates. We then see an arial overhead shot of Caine speeding down a freeway, during the daytime, with literally no traffic (not one car) around him. This is near impossible on even the least traveled Miami highways in the middle of the day.
Answer: Yes, sizes of jails differ.