A forensic scientist who performed a CSI-style examination of her husband’s underpants to see if he was cheating has been fired from her job for misusing the police crime lab.

Ann Chamberlain, 33, testified at a divorce hearing that she ran the DNA test on the underwear of Charles Gordon Jr in September at the laboratory in Michigan where she had worked since 1999.

Asked by her lawyer what she found, she said: “Another female. It wasn’t me.” The couple, who have one child, were divorced in July.

The case has been dubbed “CSI: Laundry” in homage to the hit television show CSI: Miami, which stars David Caruso as a forensic analyst who heads a crime scene investigation unit.

The DNA test came to public attention when her husband’s lawyer sent a letter to Michigan State Police questioning improper DNA testing at the lab. He said that Mr Gordon — a former player in the Canadian Football League — disputed his wife’s claim that he acknowledged having sex with another woman after she found the female DNA on his briefs.

Ms Chamberlain has won numerous awards for her forensic work and given expert testimony in more than fifty cases, including a high-profile trial last year involving the death of 7-year-old Ricky Holland.

At a family court hearing in May, she said she ran the DNA test outside working hours with expired chemicals that were going to be thrown away. Court testimony revealed, however, that she had also conducted a paternity test for one of Mr Gordon’s friends and allowed her then-husband access to the lab while she was conducting the test.

Ms Chamberlain was suspended on full pay while Michigan State Police, which oversees the lab in Lansing, conducted a two-month internal investigation. On Tuesday, the police department announced that it had decided to dismiss her for violating a state policy that rules “department supplies, materials or equipment shall not be used for any non-duty or non-department purpose”.

Michael Maddaloni, Mr Gordon’s lawyer, said Ms Chamberlain had got off lightly because of her connections. “I think she should have been charged criminally for what she did, because she stole from the taxpayer,” he said. “She did not just test his underwear. She did numerous tests for a friend.” “Any other person would have been charged with a crime.” he said. “She has friends in high places.”

He added: “She has never produced the underwear at issue or the results of the test at issue”

Christopher Bommarito, president of Forensic Science Consultants, where Mrs Chamberlain also works, called her “an award-winning scientist with very high ethics and morals”.

“It is our understanding that she made an error in judgment at a time where she was under stress from both physical and emotional abuse,” Mr Bommarito, who is president-elect of the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists, said in a statement.

“We feel that the current situation in no way compromises her ability to function as a forensic scientist. While we hope that the state police will reconsider their decision, in the interim, Ms Chamberlain has taken on additional responsibilities in our company.”