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Article: Fingerprint evidence facing court challenges: ; An old superstar could soontake a backseat to DNA
- Article from:
- Sunday Gazette-Mail
- Article date:
- April 8, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 Sunday Gazette-Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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For nearly a century, fingerprints have been superstars in
American courtrooms. If an expert said a fingerprint at the crime
scene matched yours, you had some explaining to do. Who could doubt
a match? But today, some legal experts say that might be headed for
a change. Within a year, one authority expects, a judge will block
fingerprint evidence as unscientific. Another thinks such evidence
will still be admitted, but that its credibility will be taken down
a notch.
And the author of a book out next month speculates that
fingerprint evidence could be eclipsed by DNA identification within
a few decades.
What is going on? The Supreme Court recently raised the bar for
scientific evidence, and ...