NJ Court Questions Century-old Fingerprint Evidence Protocol (1)

Fingerprint evidence will be subject to deeper scrutiny in New Jersey criminal trials, a state appeals panel ruled Friday in a potentially breakthrough case for the state’s defense bar.

Despite police use for a century, the Superior Court Appellate Division ruled that recent research questioning fingerprint analysis reliability—and the possibility of examiners selecting false-positives from fingerprint databases—means judges must scrutinize the science of print analysis.

The case at issue is a burglary where the evidence was fingerprints and surveillance video at a Wing King restaurant. It required the judge to consider seriously whether fingerprint analysis stands up to rigors of ...