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Chapter 14 Notes Part 1. Fingerprinting. James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman?. In 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. . James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman?.
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Chapter 14 Notes Part 1 Fingerprinting
James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • In 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Like most high profile cases, speculation has swirled around the motives and connections of James Earl Ray.
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.
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.
James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • At 6:00 pm, Dr. King left his second story motel room and stepped onto the balcony.
James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • Shots rang out, and the civil rights activist was fatally struck.
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.
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.
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.
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.
James Earl Ray: Conspirator or Lone Gunman? • He took back his confession and maintained his innocence until he died of Hepatitis C in 1998.
History of Fingerprinting • Since the beginning of criminal investigations, police have sought a failproof method of human identification.
History of Fingerprinting • The first attempt at a personal identification system was developed by Alphonse Bertillon in 1883.
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.
History of Fingerprinting • This system of precise body measurements was known as anthropometry.
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.
History of Fingerprinting • The Chinese used fingerprints to sign legal documents as far back as three thousand years ago.
History of Fingerprinting • However, it is unknown if they were aware of the individual nature of fingerprints.
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.
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.
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.
History of Fingerprinting • In 1897, Sir Edward Richard Henry developed another system for classifying fingerprints, which is used in most English-speaking countries today.
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.
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • There are 3 basic principles of fingerprinting that encompass the uniqueness and stability of fingerprint identification. They are…
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • The individuality of a fingerprint is determined by a careful study of its ridge characteristics (also known as minutiae).
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • In court, a thorough point by point comparison must be demonstrated by the expert witness.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 8-16 matching ridge characteristic locations must be identified to be considered a match.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 2. A fingerprint remains unchanged during an individual’s lifetime.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • It is impossible to change one’s fingerprints, though they can be obscured by deep scarring or burning.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • Ultimately this doesn’t work. • Scars are distinctive and become an additional way of identifying the individual.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • John Dillinger, a notorious gangster, attempted to destroy his own fingerprints by applying corrosive acid to them.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • Despite being slightly obscured, police were still able to positively match his fingerprints.
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • 60-65% of the population have loops
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.
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • The core is the center of the loop pattern.
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.
Fundamental Principles of Fingerprints • All whorl patterns have type lines and at least two deltas.
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.)
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.
