Finger prints, as of now, have been secured from less than half of the people on this earth. The prospect for duplicates is still out there and the prospect for machines to lack the skill to make absolutely positive distinctions is always with us.
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200311/msg00095.html I never did criminal defense but had I done so fingerprints would have been a major area of research for me. I just do not trust them. We now know that DNA can be planted quite easilly by hair, sperm, bodily substances and in other ways, especiallly blood. Fingerprints are also subject to the whims of techknowlogy- you leave them everyplace you go. In the absence of an air tight alabi you can be convicted because of the common belief that these items are unique.
jjw
