http://www.dallasjustice.com/dallascriminallawyerblog/crime-news-now-we-cant-trust-fingerprint-evidence-anymore Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:46:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.dallasjustice.com/dallascriminallawyerblog/crime-news-now-we-cant-trust-fingerprint-evidence-anymore/comment-page-1#comment-686 Bob McAuley Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:33:40 +0000 http://www.dallasjustice.com/dallascriminallawyerblog/?p=320#comment-686 Mike: While I will agree there are some individuals who do not have the training required to effectively search and identify fingerprints, your facts are exaggerated. Fingerprints have been used as a form of identification since the late 1800's and have been very effective. What is needed is a more vigorous use of our adversarial system of justice. Defense attorneys or the courts need to have fingerprint evidence evaluated by an unbiased 3rd. party more often than they currently do. Accreditation and standards do not guarantee quality. Doctors are a good example, they are accredited and have national standards but you still need a 2nd. opinion to insure accuracy. Houston does have problems, but there are millions of records processed each year accurately. The fingerprints allow agencies to insure the person working with your children or elderly parent are of good character or in the case of a disaster being able to identify the deceased. In most criminal cases the examiner gets it right which improves our public safety. It is a good discussion to have. Mike:
While I will agree there are some individuals who do not have the training required to effectively search and identify fingerprints, your facts are exaggerated. Fingerprints have been used as a form of identification since the late 1800’s and have been very effective. What is needed is a more vigorous use of our adversarial system of justice. Defense attorneys or the courts need to have fingerprint evidence evaluated by an unbiased 3rd. party more often than they currently do. Accreditation and standards do not guarantee quality. Doctors are a good example, they are accredited and have national standards but you still need a 2nd. opinion to insure accuracy. Houston does have problems, but there are millions of records processed each year accurately. The fingerprints allow agencies to insure the person working with your children or elderly parent are of good character or in the case of a disaster being able to identify the deceased. In most criminal cases the examiner gets it right which improves our public safety. It is a good discussion to have.

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