As today’s jurors increasingly rely on forensic evidence, and investigators apply it more in their pursuit to identify and prosecute criminal offenders, its validity comes into question.
Alleged Murderer Ricky Jackson
Such is the case in the investigation and trial of Ricky Jackson, who was found guilty and received a sentence of life without parole in the death of his friend and sometimes lover, Alvin Davis.
Investigators said Jackson’s fingerprints were found in the blood of the victim, on the handle of a box fan that lay across the victim’s head at the scene of the crime. Davis had been brutally stabbed and strangled in his apartment in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
Since police believed Jackson’s fingerprints matched the partial latent fingerprint found in the victim’s blood on the fan, they arrested Jackson and charged him with the murder of Davis.
After Jackson was found guilty, his attorney Michael J. Malloy said that because there was no confession and no eye witnesses and there didn’t appear to be a motive, they needed to get a qualified fingerprint expert.
Family Believed in Innocence
Ricky’s father asked him only once if he committed this crime and when Ricky said, “No,” his father, Richard Jackson Sr., began an endless quest to prove his son's innocence despite the forensic evidence that police said they had against Ricky.
He contacted retired FBI fingerprint examiner, George Wynn, who had 48 years of experience in fingerprint examination and was known for having success with difficult cases.
Wynn examined the partial latent fingerprint from the fan, and the prints of Ricky Jackson. When he was unable to find even one characteristic in common between them, he believed he was sent the wrong set of prints.
Wynn said,”I knew within 2-3 minutes after looking at these prints, that they had been erroneously identified.” He decided to get a second opinion from Vernon McCloud, a friend and fellow retired FBI fingerprint examiner. When McCloud examined the prints, he also thought he was given the wrong set of prints to examine.
McCloud said there has to be a sufficient amount of matching fingerprint characteristics in relation to both sets of prints, and he found none. Although police found multiple similarities in the prints, both Wynn and McCloud felt certain that a mistake had been made.
Jackson went back to court, and the defense, in opening arguments, revealed that they had proof the Upper Darby Police Department erred in its identification of the prints.
After he had served two years of his life sentence, Wynn and McCloud were able to get Jackson’s sentence overturned based on their fingerprint findings. Prosecutors decided not to re-try Jackson due to a lack of evidence and Jackson is now a free man. Alvin Davis’ killer has not been found as of yet.
Careful Processing of Evidence
While forensics can be an exact and irrefutable science used to identify criminal offenders, as well as the victims of crimes, without experts' careful processing and examination of the evidence, it can result in destroyed lives of innocent people, and their families.
Source: MSNBC TV’s, “When Forensics Fail,” aired Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Peter Moser - Pete came to Suite101 with several years of writing experience. He first wrote very detailed investigative police reports during his ...
