FBI: Did fingerprint examiners make mistakes (on death row prisoners)?

[rainbow4321]

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=216701&cat=Asia

The FBI is checking the cases of death row prisoners in the United States to determine if its fingerprint examiners made mistakes, a report said.

The FBI began the reviews 18 months ago as a result of the misidentification of a fingerprint found near the Madrid terrorist bombings that led to the detention of Portland, Ore., lawyer and Muslim convert Brandon Mayfield, USA Today reported.

No FBI error has been found in death penalty cases examined so far, the FBI's Joseph DiZinno said.

There are more than 3,000 death row inmates in the United States, the Death Penalty Information Center said. It was not known how many convictions rested on fingerprint evidence.

[hang a left]

1. Okie dokie then....

I guess that settles that.

[rainbow4321]

2. So much for the "upgrade and enhance" of their fingerprint system..

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0505/04jones.html

May 5 2005
FBI officials in Washington admitted Tuesday they botched fingerprint tests on a suspected serial killer, allowing him to slip through the hands of Georgia authorities before he allegedly murdered four more women, including a Forsyth County hairdresser.

"The FBI regrets this incident," said Thomas E. Bush III, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division. "We continue to improve our procedures and examine new technologies to upgrade and enhance the reliability and accuracy of the fingerprint system."

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And to think they have several states sharing fingerprint records..why bother if they can't handle what they already have??? The odds of them screwing things up are pretty damn HIGH!

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13601901.htm

Kansas has become the eighth state to connect to the FBI's National Fingerprint File, which Kansas Bureau of Investigation officials say will give police in other states easier and more detailed access to criminal history records from Kansas.

The practice has been for the KBI to send duplicate fingerprint and arrest records to the FBI on arrests for serious felonies and misdemeanors. If another state sought information, it would come directly from the FBI file. However, that information isn't as detailed as the state's file, which includes the disposition of the arrest and where the person lives and works.

Other states participating so far are Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Montana, Oklahoma and Colorado.