Fingerprint Errors Lead to False Arrests

Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in California reported Oct. 16 that the Department may have falsely imprisoned innocent people based on faulty fingerprint analyses by their forensics department. They're also concerned that guilty individuals may have gone free because of the inadequacies of their fingerprint analysis division. 

If you were arrested by an officer of the LAPD within the past year or so, this news may be of crucial importance to your case.

"Quick Action to Correct the Problem"

The chief of the Police Department's administrative and technical bureau, Rhonda Sims-Lewis, stated that the LAPD will take quick action to correct the problem. However, the Department's internal police report notes that it was last year that several of the Department's fingerprint analysts were fired or suspended following an internal investigation. 

Arrests of the Innocent in L.A.?

In the report, the Los Angeles PD admits that their officers have arrested innocent individuals due to the incorrect fingerprint analyses, but the report does not give a number or even an estimate of how many such false arrests have occurred. The criminal charges in two recent cases were dropped after the fingerprint problems were revealed.

Clear-cut Cases of Mistaken Identification

In one case, a hospital worker was charged with breaking into a store in early 2006 based on an erroneous fingerprint I.D. The LAPD contends that the prints related to the case have been lost.  

In a second case, the accused was charged with burglary and extradited from Alabama based on the Department's fingerprint analysis; two fingerprint reviewers also missed the mistaken identification — a third analyst caught the mistake while preparing to testify against the defendant at a trial. 

"Rubber-Stamping the Results"

Fingerprints from a crime scene in the LAPD's jurisdiction are run through an automated database and given to one of 78 fingerprint specialists for analysis. His or her conclusion is reviewed by two more analysts. However, as described by the top officer of the LAPD's scientific investigation division, some of the fingerprint analysts were simply rubber-stamping the results obtained by friends in the department — not truly reviewing the analysis. 

(Source: Associated Press) 

Legal Help

If you fear that the arrest, charge or conviction that you or your family member received may be due to a faulty fingerprint analysis, contact us to speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney today. He or she will help determine whether your case was handled properly.