Review the Report to the President: Expert Forensic Evidence in Criminal Court (2016) (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_forensic_science_report_final.pdf) before answering the following 8 questions. The answers are in there.
For Question #8, the graph can be found here on pg. 7: https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2016/1…
Questions
- Explain the role that the concept of “uniqueness “play in the identification of fingerprints?
- What role do empirical studies play in determining the reliability of fingerprint opinions?
- Meaning, what is the relationship between empirical studies and reliability the court may wish to attribute to Fingerprint Examiner opinions regarding identifications?
- What are error rates? How are these determined? Why are these rates important to determining reliability of opinions?
- Can error rates be established for real-world casework? Why or why not?
- What is a false-positive in terms of fingerprint identification error rates?
- What was the statistical probability of error identified in the 2011 FBI study? Can this error rate be used by you to indicate the error rate of your evaluation of a particular latent fingerprint?
- What was statistical probability of false-positives in the Miami-Dade study? Are there any identified problems associated with the reliability of that study?
8.Explain the application of the friction ridge sufficiency graph. In particular, apply the graph to explain the sufficiency of a latent fingerprint in which 7 level-two details can be identified in a print that is judged to be medium-low quality. (4 marks)