FINGERPRINT EVIDENCE
CHARGE OF THEFT COMMENT BY JUDGE (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 23. The value of fingerprint evidence was raised during the hearing of a breaking • and' entering and theft charge in the Supreme Court to-day. The Crown case was based upon the claim that fingerprints found on the cashbox in the Featherston County Council office were identical with those of the accused, Harry Collins, aged 56, a seaman and labourer, who pleaded an alibi. The police fingerprint expert, in crossexamination, said he had heard of soft rubber stamps having been made carrying the impression of a fingerprint. Mr Justice said he had had experience of such stamps being made, but the forgery was immediately detected. In at least four cases before him in which the sole evidence for the Crown was fingerprint evidence, which was accepted by juries without question, he had never heard of the court refusing to accept such evidence alone. Fingerprints were an unforgeable signature. The accused was found guilty and remanded for sentence.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 22710, 24 October 1935, Page 12
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170FINGERPRINT EVIDENCE Otago Daily Times, Issue 22710, 24 October 1935, Page 12
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