NLADA: Defender Legal Services - Forensic Science Resources

Welcome to the Forensics Library. Browse the library by topic or search for documents by keyword. Some materials are viewable only by practicing criminal defense lawyers but most are open to the public.

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Forensics Library

Fingerprints

Fingerprint Court Opinions

U.S. v. Llera Plaza

	*The Nonscience of Fingerprinting: United States v. Llera Plaza Arizona State Univ. law Professor David Kaye, convincingly deconstructs the Llera Plaza II decision [ 09/01/02 \| Submitter: David Kaye \| more info ]
	U.S. v. Llera Plaza II After holding that fingerprint identifications fail to pass muster under Daubert (see Llera Plaza I), Judge Louis Pollack agreed to a rehearing, changed his mind, and then issued this opinion. Here he finds that experts may express the opinion that ... [ 03/13/02 \| Submitter: SC \| more info/full abstract ]
	Testimony of Janine Arvizu, Dr. Ralph Haber, Stephen Meagher Defense witnesses: Arvizu, chemist and laboratory quality auditor. Haber, psychologist. Gov't. witness: Meagher, latent print supervisor, FBI [ 02/27/02 \| more info ]
	Testimony of Kenneth O. Smith, Allan Bayle, Stephen Meagher, Janine Arvizu Gov't witnesses: Smith & Meagaher, latent print examiners. Defense witnesses: Bayle, former latent print examiner, Scotland Yard; Arvizu, chemist and laboratory quality auditor. [ 02/26/02 \| more info ]
	Testimony of Stephen Meagher, Kenneth O. Smith Meagher is a latent print supervisor for the FBI. Smith is a latent print examiner for the U.S. Postal Service and Chair of the Latent Print Certification Board of the International Association for Identification. [ 02/25/02 \| more info ]
	*Defendant's Memorandum of Law in Response to the Govt's Motion for Reconsid Defendant's Memorandum of Law in Response to the Govt's Motion for Reconsideration [ 02/21/02 \| Submitter: Robert Epstein \| more info ]
	*Government's Memorandum of Law in Support of its Motion for Reconsideration Government's memorandum asking court to reconsider its holding in Plaza I limiting fingerprint evidence. This memorandum is notable for its argument that fingerprint evidence should be held to a LOW standard of validity, comparing it, for example, ... [ 01/28/02 \| more info/full abstract ]
	*Govt's Motion for Reconsideration and Permission to Present New Evidence Government's Initial Motion for Reconsideration in response to Plaza I. Promises new evidence concerning proficiency testing at the FBI. But testimony of Allan Bayle shows that FBI proficiency tests were EXTREMELY EASY, as noted in Plaza II opinion. [ 01/18/02 \| more info/full abstract ]
	U.S. v. Llera Plaza I The first Plaza decision, vacated by Plaza II, holding that forensic fingerprint identification is not science, fails to meet Daubert and the latent print examiners may not offer conclusions about the source of latent prints. [ 01/07/02 \| more info ]
	*Defendant's Reply Memo in support of Motion to Exclude Fingerprint Evidence Defendant's Reply Memo in support of Motion to Exclude Fingerprint Evidence [ Submitter: L. Felipe Restrepo \| more info ]

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