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Article: Maryland judge rubs out fingerprint evidence.
- Article from:
- Trial
- Article date:
- February 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 American Association for Justice, formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA®). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A ruling in a capital murder case questions one of the most time-honored ways of figuring out whodunit.
In a Baltimore County, Maryland, courtroom, a state circuit court judge ruled that testimony about latent fingerprint evidence was not admissible because the state could not prove that it had "a reliable factual foundation." In granting the defense motion to exclude the testimony, Judge Susan Souder likened unquestioning confidence in fingerprint evidence to some people's stubborn belief in a flat Earth. (State v. Rose, No. K06-0545 (Md., Baltimore Co. Cir. Oct. 19, 2007).)
On the morning of January 5, 2006, Warren Fleming was shot to death outside a ...