Individualization Using Friction Skin Impressions: Scientifically Reliable, Legally Valid

The adversarial structure of the American judicial system encourages critical reviews and challenges of forensic evidence. As a result, the discriminatory power of friction ridge skin impression evidence has been a prime target of debate among critics of the latent print discipline for years, the primary argument being friction ridge skin examination is neither scientif ically reliable nor legally valid. Therefore, these critics advocate the exclusion of expert testimony to identif ications from the legal system. This article reviews some long-held challenges to the science of friction ridge examination, which include challenges to the premise of friction ridge skin uniqueness, testimonial claims of individualization, reliability of comparative interpretations, errors and error rate data, and the legal admissibility according to Daubert standards. The f lawed logic on which these challenges are based is presented along with evidence in response to the challenges regarding the scientif ic reliability and legal validity of the science of the examination of friction ridge skin examination.