Expert: FBI Fingerprint Test
Easy
Wed Feb 27, 9:06 AM ET
By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -
The FBI's tests for fingerprint examiners are "a joke" because
the examples are far easier to read than typical crime scene prints, an
expert testified.
"If I gave my
experts these tests, they would fall (down) laughing," Allan Bayle
testified Tuesday, the second day of a federal court hearing on the
validity of fingerprints as evidence.
Bayle is a one-time
Scotland Yard fingerprint analyst whose work led to a conviction in the
1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He now works
as a private consultant.
Bayle's testimony was
intended to discredit government witnesses who said FBI examiners almost
never err when linking the tests' make-believe crime scene prints to
their maker.
The government wants
to convince U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak to rethink his Jan. 7
decision barring experts from testifying that fingerprints lifted from a
crime scene match those of a particular defendant.
Bayle said the
fingerprints on the FBI's long-secret proficiency exams are far clearer
than the often smudged and incomplete prints from real-life crime
scenes.
"To give this to
an expert is a joke; it's too easy," Bayle said.
Pollak said in his
ruling that fingerprint evidence has not been scientifically tested,
that its error rate has not been calculated and that there are no
standards for what constitutes a match.
The ruling is believed
to be the first of its kind, and legal experts say it opened the door
for other courts to consider the issue. If left to stand, it could
ultimately change the way evidence is gathered and presented in court.
On Tuesday, Pollak
recalled to the stand FBI fingerprint expert Stephen Meagher, who
testified Monday that he knew of no examples of an FBI examiner
testifying about an erroneous identification.
When asked by the
judge if he knew of mistakes by anyone else, Meagher acknowledged that
he knew of several examples of other law enforcement agencies verifying
a match in court and later being found wrong.
Pollak's ruling
stemmed from a death penalty case for three men accused of operating a
multimillion-dollar drug ring and killing four people. Their trial is
set to begin next month.
Pollak said experts
may testify about and compare fingerprints from a crime scene with a
defendant's, but can't declare a match.
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