Veteran criminalist, forensic investigator Greg Laskowski was CSI before CSI was cool

Jan. 2—Gregory Laskowski has spent a career — actually multiple careers — as a criminalist and forensic investigator, university instructor, and as the entrepreneur owner of his own business in crime scene investigation, shooting scene reconstruction, blood splatter analysis, arson and explosives analysis and more.

The job description may sound more than a little macabre, and it's certainly not a career for just anyone, but for Laskowski, his work was a search for the truth, and ultimately, a search for justice.

And sometimes it was fun, too.

When CSI — crime scene investigation — became all the rage on TV crime dramas, Laskowski worked for years as a technical consultant for such television series as "CSI-Crime Scene Investigations," "CSI: Miami," "Law and Order" and many others.

But now, after decades of meticulous work that earned the respect of judges, district attorneys, cops and jurors, the 66-year-old is finally putting away his microscopes and preparing for retirement.

"I first met Mr. Laskowski when I began working as a prosecutor at the Kern County District Attorney's Office in 1984," current Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in an email.

Laskowski was already an accomplished criminalist at the Kern Regional Crime Laboratory and was highly respected by law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the bench, said Zimmer, who worked with the criminalist on nearly every kind of case, from DUIs to homicides.

"He was an expert in many areas," Zimmer said, "including blood spatter evidence, shoe track analysis and firearms examination."

Laskowski, she said, "was meticulous in his analysis and drew his conclusions based on science, as he was careful to never favor any side in the litigation."

Born in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1955, Laskowski came to Bakersfield two years later when his father landed a job with Standard Oil's exploration division in 1957.

"I was pretty much raised in Bakersfield," Laskowski said.

He studied biochemistry at the University of Southern California, and went to work at the Kern County Sheriff's Office's Criminalistics Laboratory in 1977.

It was the beginning of a career path that would last some 45 years.

In 1987, when the crime lab came under the supervision of the Kern County District Attorney's Office, the transformation was almost seamless.

"There was no change in personnel," he remembered. "Just a change in bosses."

The first time Laskowski was ordered to go out to a crime scene investigation — he called it a "baptism of fire" — it was like a graduation to another level.

"I remember walking into that crime scene, and I remember the old detectives. They looked at me," he said. "And I could hear them whispering, 'Here comes the college boy.'"

Laskowski considers himself fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to cross train in so many different sub-specialties at the lab.

"When I started, I did toxicology, drug analysis, blood alcohol analysis for drunk driving cases," he said. "I went on to work arson cases and firearms and tool marks. It afforded me the opportunity to learn all these things."

Laskowski calls himself a dinosaur because these days, criminalists usually must specialize in one or two areas. But Laskowski continued to expand his areas of expertise throughout his career.

"He was the consummate expert witness," recalled retired Kern County Superior Court Judge James M. Stuart.

Laskowski was "always well-prepared," Stuart said, "and his demeanor was the same whether answering questions from the prosecution or the defense."

The so-called dinosaur would end up working as the supervising criminalist in Bakersfield, where he supervised the Major Crimes Unit.

He would work on some of Kern County's biggest criminal cases, from David Keith Rogers, a Kern County sheriff's deputy convicted of murdering a women and a teenage girl, to Bruce Sons, who was convicted in 2006 of voluntary manslaughter in the 1994 shooting death of California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Maxwell.

In 1999 or 2000, Laskowski was recruited as a technical adviser by actor David Berman, who played assistant coroner David Phillips on the hit TV series, "CSI-Crime Scene Investigations."

Berman and Jon Wellner, who played toxicologist Henry Andrews, were also researchers and consultants for the show. In an earlier Californian interview, Berman said he discovered Laskowski when he was searching for a firearms expert to help develop a plot. Recommended by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Colorado, the Kern County criminologist became one of the show's most valued consultants.

A few years later, the TV crime drama saved the Kern County crime lab, said Laskowski.

There had been a big push in 2005 to cut funding to the lab, but when members of the show's cast visited the crime lab, their enthusiastic support seemed to convince Kern County supervisors to drop plans to take a budget ax to the lab's budget.

Laskowski served as a technical consultant, helping develop plot lines and solutions to the crime of the week.

"They were always sending me scripts," he said. "They always wanted these perfect murders. It kept my mind really active.

"I had to debunk the idea of using a frozen meat bullet," he said. "It won't work."

But in the end, Laskowski believes the popularity of the shows raised the profile of those who do the work of the criminalist.

"He knew it could really elevate the status of forensic scientists," Berman told The Californian in 2015.

But in real courtrooms, he may not have needed any help.

Reached Thursday while traveling, Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael Lewis said Laskowski was considered quite competent by the legal community, and that his analysis was crucial in a number of major cases in Kern County.

"One case that comes to mind was his testimony in the case of Rodney Berryman, a death penalty case prosecuted by (former District Attorney) Lisa Green," Lewis said in a text message. "His forensic analysis was instrumental in connecting the defendant to the case."

Laskowski's demeanor was also critical.

"Besides his analysis," Lewis said, "the jurors all seemed to like the manner in which he presented his findings. He came across as credible and understated in his testimony."

The criminalist taught a CSI course for the Levan Institute for Lifelong Learning at Bakersfield College and was an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma.

He retired from the crime lab in 2012, but continued to work cases as a consultant through his private firm, Criminalistics Services International LLC.

He remained active in a number of professional organizations, including the California Association of Criminalists, the American Board of Criminalistics and the International Association for Identification.

"As DNA techniques continued to improve, cold case homicides were solved, which required the testimony of witnesses who worked on the cases many years ago," Zimmer told The Californian.

"For decades, Mr. Laskowski responded to murder scenes and helped analyze the evidence," she said. "Since becoming the district attorney, I tried a cold case homicide from 20 years prior and had the pleasure of calling Mr. Laskowski as a witness, years after he retired from the crime lab. As always, he was prepared and sharp on the witness stand, as if the incident had happened a few days before."

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.