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Fingerprint Analysis Testimony Admissible

By Shari Allison

US v. Baines, -- F.3d --, 2009 WL 2139117 (10th Cir. 7/20/09) - The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting expert fingerprint analysis testimony. Defense argued gov't did not establish reliability of method for matching latent print to defendant's known print. As to the first Daubert factor, the record did not establish that the fingerprint analysis technique has been subjected to testing meeting rigorous scientific standards, but it has been around a long time and the FBI conducts demanding training followed by proficiency exams, so this weighs somewhat in favor of admissibility. The second Daubert factor, peer review and publication re: the theory or process, was not established by the gov't and did not weigh in favor of admissibility...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on July 22, 2009 (boomark / email).