Much ado is made over the alleged imprecision and/or inaccuracy inherent in DNA detective work. However, it would seem trusty ol' fingerprinting isn't so fool-proof as most believe. Perhaps "We always get our man" should be changed to "We usually get a man".
Printing Problems
The inexact science of fingerprint analysis.
By David Feige
Posted Thursday, May 27, 2004, at 2:35 PM PT
" The release and exoneration this month of Brandon Mayfield, the Portland, Ore., lawyer arrested in connection with the Spanish train bombings, raises important questions about the nature of scientific evidence. Mayfield, a 37-year-old lawyer, ex military officer, and convert to Islam, was jailed for two weeks after the FBI discovered his fingerprint on a bag of detonators recovered after the deadly Madrid bombing that killed 191 people in March. Mayfield, it was also quickly disclosed, represented a defendant in a child custody case who was linked to terrorism. After matching the print and reviewing the evidence, special agent Richard Werder swore out an affidavit and used it to get a material-witness warrant. Mayfield was quickly arrested and sent to jail. More quick and aggressive police work in a terrorism case, keeping the homeland secure."
" Except for the part about how the fingerprint wasn't Mayfield's at all."
Funky Dung
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