Summary the Myth of " the Myth of Fingerprints " Mcm Contest Question A

For over a century, fingerprints have been a nearly undisputed personal identifier, and have consequently found much practical use in criminal investigations. The 1993 Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceutical rulings that clarify what constitutes scientifically admissible evidence have sparked a new interest in verifying that fingerprints are truly unique from person to person. Consequently, we seek to develop a description of fingerprint structure that is capable of a precise determination of the probability of duplicate fingerprints. To provide a complete and realistic description of fingerprint structure, our model must achieve the following objectives: • Topological structure in the print determined by the overall flow of ridges and valleys should be described accurately. • Fine detail in the form of ridge bifurcations and terminations must also be characterized accurately. • Intrinsic uncertainties in our ability to reproduce and measure fingerprint data must be considered. • Definite probabilities for specified fingerprint configurations must be calculated. We place special emphasis on meeting the modeling criteria established by Stoney and Thornton [1986] in their assessment of prior fingerprint models. In addition to calculating estimates of the theoretical limit of fingerprint differentiation and thereby the probability of print duplication in human history, we apply our model to the more realistic conditions encountered in forensic science to determine the legitimacy of current methodology. We also compare the accuracies of DNA and fingerprint evidence on both practical and theoretical levels. Given the theoretical limits of fingerprint identification, our model predicts uniqueness of prints throughout human history. Furthermore, we determine that fingerprint evidence can be as valid as DNA evidence, if not more so, although both depend on the quality of the forensic material recovered .