Fingerprinting Identification and Understanding the Term Daubert Hearing

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Fingerprinting Identification and Understanding the Term Daubert Hearing

From the early days, with little literary reference material, to the current day, with substantially more, but still insufficient formation, the science of fingerprint identification has managed to maintain its credibility and usefulness. Although, academic institutions have yet to recognize the field as an applied science and include it in the curricula, which would provide directed research and literary reference, in libraries. Without this academic recognition, progress in the field of fingerprint is destined to be sluggish. Description of fingerprint identification as a forensic science’ or an ~app1ied science’ in no way implies that is not a reliable science. Fingerprint identification, correctly understood and applied, is just as scientifically valid and reliable as any other science and, indeed, more accurate than many. The fingerprint expert applies knowledge gained through training and experience to reach a conclusion. The many uses of fingerprint identification range from criminal investigation to non-criminal matters such as deceased, missing persons and disaster victim identification. Fingerprint identification has been used in the court systems for many years. Yet there are those who that still try to challenge fingerprint science and the experts in the court of law by a Daubert Hearing. In this paper, Daubert Hearing is define and detail outing background of the cases, the Government preparation, the Testimony from both sides, the judge’s verdict and finally, Mitchell’s second trial on this case.

A Daubert Hearing is a term from a civil case entitled Daubert v.Merrell Dow

Pharmaceuticals ,113s. Ct. 2786 (1993). This was the first such case ...

... middle of paper ...

...the unknown print or some other person could have made it. The bottom line is that only one person could leave the unknown print. It is the responsibility of the fingerprint expert performing a comparison to reach this conclusion. Therefore, fingerprint identification is based on sound scientific principles.

Bibliography:

Ashbaugh, David R. “Ridgeology.” Journal of Forensic Identification, 1991.

Galton, Francis. Fingerprint, MacMillan and Co., London, 1892.

Herschel, William J. The Origin of Finger-Printing 1916. New York: AMS, 1974.

SCAFO Online Articles. Daubert and fingerprints: The United States of America v.

Bryan C. Mitchell. April- June 2000. http://www.scafo.org/1ibrary/15O4O2.html.

U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Expert Fingerprint

Witness. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

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