Court case convictions because of fingerprints - Essay Example

Fingerprinting has been proved to be immensely beneficial to investigators all over the world to nail murders, thieves and law abusers based on latent fingerprints unknowingly left by the perpetrators or criminals. DNA fingerprinting is proved to be the best flawless identification system and as such it has played a pivotal role in solving many controversial court cases such as the Farrow case, Thomas Jennings case, The Mona Lisa case, and the Brandon Mayfield case. There have also been instances in history where DNA fingerprinting error has caused innocent persons to be treated as culprits as in the case of Brandon Mayfield.

This paper analyses these four cases in detail to see why DNA fingerprinting was so important in these cases and in doing so the paper also seeks to explore the various advantages of DNA fingerprinting. The Farrow case involving the Stratton Brothers was the first case determined by DNA fingerprinting in London. On March 27, 1905 Thomas Farrow was found dead in his paint shop and a few days later his wife, Ann also died. Even though robbery was identified as the motive for the crime it was very difficult for the Scotland Yard men to make any quick progresses in the case.

Two masks were discovered from the spot and the Scotland Yard after their preliminary investigation identified the murderers as the Stratton brothers- Albert and Alfred Stratton. However, there were no solid evidence against the brothers rather than circumstantial evidences and the description given by milkman Henry Jennings. It is at this juncture that a clear fingerprint on Farrow's cash box found in the shop became crucial. The fingerprint was thoroughly examined by detective inspector Charles Collins, one of the founding members of the Scotland Yard's Fingerprint Branch in 1901.

He ‘rolled their fingers on the inkpad’ and “the fingerprint on the tray matched Albert's right thumb to perfection” (Gurdoglanyan, 2011). Collins played a crucial role in convincing the jury of the points of similarities among the fingerprints. The trial history of the case makes it clear that the brothers could have escaped capital punishment if the fingerprint evidence could not be proven. During the trial, the milkman could not identify the Stratton brothers and the fingerprint evidence was ‘the prosecution's only solid evidence’ in the case (Fingerprint evidence is used to solve a British murder case, 2012).

Thus, this DNA fingerprinting proved to be crucial in the case and both the brothers were convicted as murderers. The Thomas Jennings case was the first case to be determined based on fingerprint evidence in the United States. The case of Thomas Jennings took place in 1910 and the fingerprint testimony played a crucial role in the final verdict of the murder case. Mr. Hiller was shot dead during his combat with the murderer, Thomas Jennings in 1910. The fact that Jennings had left four fingerprints of his left hand on the railings at the rear kitchen window through which he entered the home of the Hillers became a solid evidence and turning point in the case.

During the trial, fingerprint expert William M. Evans of the PDBI could prove beyond doubt that the fingerprints on the railings belonged to Jennings alone and this prompted the appeal court to affirm the verdict of the jury to offer him capital punishment