1. Chapter 14 Notes Part 1 Fingerprinting

2. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • In 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

3. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Like most high profile cases, speculation has swirled around the motives and connections of James Earl Ray.

4. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Ray was a career criminal who was serving time for armed robbery when he escaped from the Missouri State Prison.

5. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • On April 4, 1968, Ray rented a room at Bessie Brewer’s Rooming House in Memphis, Tennessee, across the street from where Dr. Martin Luther King was staying.

6. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • At 6:00 pm, Dr. King left his second story motel room and stepped onto the balcony.

7. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Shots rang out, and the civil rights activist was fatally struck.

8. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Dr. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 pm. • The shooter left a blanket covered package in front of a nearby building and drove off in a white mustang.

9. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • In the package was a rifle with scope, a radio, clothes, binoculars, beer cans, and a receipt for the binoculars. • The mustang was found a week later in Atlanta, Georgia.

10. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Ray’s fingerprints were found on the rifle, binoculars, and beer cans. • In 1969, he pled guilty in exchange for a sentence of 99 years.

11. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • There are a variety of conspiracy theories surrounding this crime. • However, fingerprints place the murder weapon directly in the hands of James Earl Ray.

12. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • He took back his confession and maintained his innocence until he died of Hepatitis C in 1998.

13. History of Fingerprinting • Since the beginning of criminal investigations, police have sought a failproof method of human identification.

14. History of Fingerprinting • The first attempt at a personal identification system was developed by Alphonse Bertillon in 1883.

15. History of Fingerprinting • The system used a detailed description of the subject with full length and profile photographs along with a system of precise body measurements.

17. History of Fingerprinting • This system of precise body measurements was known as anthropometry.

18. History of Fingerprinting • For 20 years, this was the most accurate system available to police. • In the early 1900’s, police became aware of the usefulness of finger ridge patterns known as fingerprints.

19. History of Fingerprinting • The Chinese used fingerprints to sign legal documents as far back as three thousand years ago.

20. History of Fingerprinting • However, it is unknown if they were aware of the individual nature of fingerprints.

21. History of Fingerprinting • In 1880, Henry Fauld suggested that skin ridge patterns could be useful for the identification of criminals. • His suggestion was rejected in favor of Bertillon’s system. • 20 years later, this decision was reversed.

22. History of Fingerprinting • In 1892, Francis Galton published a book called Finger Printswhich presented extensive research on the nature of fingerprints and suggested methods for recording them.

23. History of Fingerprinting • Galton’s work was adapted into a usable concept by an Argentinian police officer named Dr. Juan Vucetich. • His adaptation is still used in most Spanish speaking countries.

24. History of Fingerprinting • In 1897, Sir Edward Richard Henry developed another system for classifying fingerprints, which is used in most English-speaking countries today.

25. History of Fingerprinting • Bertillon’s system of body measurements began falling out of favor in the early 1900’s because it was very susceptible to error.

26. History of Fingerprinting • At the World’s Fair in 1904, American police officers received official instruction in fingerprint identification. • By 1924, fingerprinting was the main tool used by the FBI for identification.

27. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • There are 3 basic principles of fingerprinting that encompass the uniqueness and stability of fingerprint identification. They are…

28. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 1. A fingerprint is an individual characteristic; no two fingers have yet been found to possess identical ridge characteristics. • The FBI has 50 million fingerprint records and no two have yet to be found to be identical.

29. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • The individuality of a fingerprint is determined by a careful study of its ridge characteristics (also known as minutiae).

30. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • If two fingerprints are to match, they must reveal characteristics that are not only identical but have the same relative location to one another.

31. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • In court, a thorough point by point comparison must be demonstrated by the expert witness.

32. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 8-16 matching ridge characteristic locations must be identified to be considered a match.

33. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 2. A fingerprint remains unchanged during an individual’s lifetime.

34. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • It is impossible to change one’s fingerprints, though they can be obscured by deep scarring or burning.

35. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • Ultimately this doesn’t work. • Scars are distinctive and become an additional way of identifying the individual.

36. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • John Dillinger, a notorious gangster, attempted to destroy his own fingerprints by applying corrosive acid to them.

37. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • Despite being slightly obscured, police were still able to positively match his fingerprints.

38. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 3. Fingerprints have general ridge patterns that permit them to be systematically classified. • All fingerprints are divided into 3 classes: loops, whorls, and arches.

39. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 60-65% of the population have loops

40. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • A loop must have one or more ridges entering from one side of the print, recurving, and exiting from the same side. • If the loop opens toward the pinky of the hand, it is called an ulnar loop. • If the loop opens toward the thumb of the hand, it is called a radial loop.

42. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • The loop is surrounded by two diverging ridges known as type lines. • The point of divergence of the two type lines is called the delta.

43. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • The core is the center of the loop pattern.

44. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 30-35% of the population have whorls. • There are four groups of whorls: plain, central pocket loop, double loop, and accidental.

45. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • All whorl patterns have type lines and at least two deltas.

46. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints

47. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints

48. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints

49. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • A plain whorl and a central pocket loop have at least one ridge that makes a complete circle (or oval, etc.)

50. Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • If a line drawn between the two deltas touches the complete circle, it is a plain whorl. • If the line does not touch the circle it is a central pocket loop.